Unexpected Surprises
by spike8705
Summary: bella and alice are sisters and alice always makes her go to those stupid dance classes. but what will happen when bella is paired up with Rose's new boyfriends gorgeous yet irritating brother AH/AU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

BPOV

"Alice, please don't make me do this again," I pleaded, knowing it probably wouldn't work. Refusing her when she put her mind to something was usually just a waste of breath and energy better used for whatever she was dragging you to.

"Come one Bella, don't act like a pouty baby, you love to dance!"

"Loving it and actually being good at it are two very different thing sand you know it!"

Alice was 4 years older than me and teaches dance classes every Tuesday and Friday at the local studio with her partner and best friend Rosalie. She is always dragging me to these classes, and even though I thoroughly enjoy them, my partners usually don't. Most end up going home with some kind of bruise or sprain. My latest victim actually broke a toe.

"And who are you gonna set me up with this time? I don't want to hurt anyone and most of the regulars part like the red sea as soon as I would through the door."

"As a matter of fact, Rosalie is bringing her new boyfriend and since he is a little nervous, he is bringing his little brother too. It will be perfect! Now get dressed and let's go!"

Her cheery but subtly demanding tone told me I wouldn't win this one so I went and grabbed my "dance clothes" which were basically a pair of loose fitting jeans and a faded Disney T-shirt. Ugh! This is gonna be a nightmare. I love Alice, but sometimes I wish she was someone else's sister. How my parents managed to have children who are such opposites is beyond me. Alice is barely 5' ft. tall with spiky black hair, who has to wear a belt to keep her size "0" pants on her skinny little butt. And then there's me. 5'6" with hair that probably looks like something crapped on me as a child. To top it off, I am the most uncoordinated ungraceful person to ever walk on 2 legs (or 4 for that matter). Alice has such a cheerful personality it almost hurt to see her smile all the time. And then there's me again. My parents always told me I was born 35 and got older every year. Oh well, may as well get this ordeal over with. The sooner I get there, the sooner I could leave.

"I'll meet you there Al, I have something I need to take care of first."

"You had better not bail, or so help me…"

"I'll be there!" I cut her off. There is nothing worse than listening to my sister rant and rave like and angry little pixie.

I didn't really have anything to do I just wanted to be able to take my own car so I could make and early escape in case we had to call the ambulance…again (they know me by name at the ER). That and Al drives like a maniac. I left a couple minutes later knowing my 1950's truck would take a bit longer to get to the studio than Al's pretty little 98 mustang. Especially with her driving.

I sighed to the empty cab "This should be fun."

EPOV

"Emmett I can't believe you are _making_ me go to this class with you."

"Why. You are a great dancer. Besides you never know where you're gonna find a cute single girl to talk to," he winked at me.

"Sometimes you can be so impossible, you know that right?" I replied, slightly annoyed. He just can't seem to get it through his thick head that I'm just not interested in dating right now!

"Relax, you'll enjoy it. And if not, at least ill have someone to laugh at."

I ignored him why he insisted we take one car is beyond me. At least if I had my own car I could duck out early. Have you ever gone somewhere where you don't know anyone, and they all act like you are a walking plague? Every time I go somewhere in public people always stare at me like I grew a second head. It got so bad one time I stopped to check if I had underwear or a sock or something stuck to my shirt. It is for this reason I don't normally go out in public. So how Em managed to get me to agree to this is beyond me. Maybe he spiked that soda he gave me earlier.

Its not that I don't enjoy dancing, I do. And I am pretty good at it. Its one of the few things I find relaxing besides laying my piano or listening to my cd's. I just can't ever seem to find a partner that will stop staring long enough to concentrate on the steps.

"We're here," Emmett said breaking into my thoughts.

"Great," I said with sarcastic enthusiasm, "Let's just get this over with."

BPOV

After parking my beast of a truck and managing somehow to run full on into an automatic door, I stumbled my way into the "studio". It was actually a nice facility, it had more of a banquet hall feeling to it. Al said people have used it for weddings birthdays funerals. Pretty much anything you could think of. The walls were a nice beige color and the chandelier hanging from the middle of the 35 ft. slanted ceiling was breathtaking. The windows lining the walls started about 5 ft. off the ground and met the ceiling. As I walked in I spotted my sister talking to Jasper, Rosalie's twin brother and Al's boyfriend of about 2 years now. He was a cool guy. Really laid back. And he always knew just the right thing to say no matter what mood you were in. almost like he could feel what you were feeling. Weird I know, but on the whole he's really nice. As I walked closer to my sister, I saw Rosalie across the room staring at the door as if waiting for something.

"Hey Rose!" I called across the room. It seemed to break her out of her reverie and the grinned at me waving as I made my way over to her.

"So I see Alice managed to drag you along again. What did she say to convince you this time?"

I laughed. "She said she was gonna have you come over in the middle of the night and screw around with my truck so I would have to rely on her to drive me everywhere." I shuddered at the thought and we both laughed. Nothing was worse than Al's driving. I started to say something else, but all of the sudden the entire room went silent. I looked around to see what was going on and that's when I saw it. Or rather Him. Walking through the door of the studio was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Here we go again," I thought to myself. As soon as we walked in, the entire room turned and stared. What is wrong with people! Have they never seen a human being before! Why can't people just be polite and nod in acknowledgement or something.

I leaned over to Emmett. "Did I forget to put pants on or something?"

He just chuckled. "Edward, Edward…" is all he would say.

Irritation flared but I refused to let I show.

"Hey, there's Rose!" he said suddenly, bounding through the crowd of people to 2 girls standing on the other side of the room. One was a very attractive blonde grinning from ear to ear as Emmett grabbed her in a huge bear hug. I assumed that was Rosalie. The other was a cute brunette, slightly shorter, with her mouth open slightly, staring at me. As I started walking towards the group the crowd parted, clearing a pathway to the other side of the room. As I watched, slightly agitated, the brunette's mouth formed into a slow smirk. My curiosity flared as I pondered what made her react that way. Her attention was captured a moment later as 2 other people joined the group. The girl was short with spiky black hair and bouncing up and down like she just won the lottery. The boy was obviously Rosalie's brother. The family resemblance was striking. I closed the distance just before introductions were made.

"Emmett, this is Alice, Jasper, and Bella, everyone, this is Emmett and his brother Edward." He must have talked about me seeing as she seemed to know who I was though I've never met her before.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," I said as I met Bella's gaze and saw the slightest smile cross her face.

"It's nice to meet you too," she replied back.

"I must say I have never seen anyone else part a crowd quite like that," Alice replied in greeting. "Well, besides Bella."

I looked over to see Bella flush a surprising shade of red and glace over to glare daggers at Alice.

"Bella and Alice are sisters," Rosalie supplied and I felt my eyebrows rise. They look nothing alike. As if she knew my thoughts, Bella looked over at me, still blushing. "We don't look anything alike, do we. Sometimes I swear I'm adopted. I mean look at her, she looks like she could be half fairy." I laughed at her tone, intrigued. Before I could as anymore questions, Alice clapped her hands, clearly excited.

"Ok guys, its time to start. Bella Edward is going to be your partner," she giggled. "Rose you and Emmett can be up front instructing while Jazz and I walk around making sure everyone understands."

I looked down in time to see Bella had started blushing again.

"Ready partner?"

She nodded but all the while refused to look at me.

Rosalie got up in front of the group and started giving instructions. "Ok today we are going to learn how to swing dance. Take your partners hands…"

I tuned her out. I already knew how to swing dance. It wasn't my favorite, I preferred ballroom dancing, but I was still pretty good at it. I looked down at my partner, my 6'2" frame making it easy, to notice she still wouldn't look at me. "This should be interesting," I thought to myself.

BPOV

Oh, I could just shoot Alice! First that crack about parting crowds and then partnering me up with Him! Does she want me to die of humiliation?! This is going to be so embarrassing. Don't get me wrong. Swing is one of the dance styles that I am better at as long as I concentrate and focus on the steps and not killing my partners feet. But that is going to be next to impossible dancing with Mr. Runway Model as my partner. Curse him for making me feel like and idiot! "You can do it Bella just don't look at him. Keep your eyes on the ground and concentrate on the steps." I thought giving myself a little pep talk.

"Ready?" a smooth velvet voice came out of nowhere, interrupting my thought process. I mentally shook my head as I realized the music had started and we were the only ones not dancing. I looked up just enough, not meeting his eyes, to take the hands he offered me. We started dancing and I was surprised at how well he was doing.

"You've done this before," I noted still not meeting his eyes. The last thing I needed was to lose focus and do something to damage the beautiful face that was staring down at me.

"Once or twice," he replied as he let go of my left hand to twirl me around and pull me back. Something about his tone made me look up to meet his ocean blue gaze. He was laughing at me! "The nerve!" I thought to myself as he let go of me to push me into another twirl. Unfortunately that momentary lack of concentration cost me. As he got ready to reel me back in I managed to lose my footing (how I don't know it just happens). I closed my eyes and grimaced for the inevitable, but I never hit the ground. I opened my eyes cautiously to see that Edward had managed to catch me and pull me down into a dip. His smile was crooked as he pulled me back up and grabbed my hands again to resume the dance.

"I now understand what your sister meant about parting the crowds." He chuckled and I glanced back up to glare at him as I felt my face heat yet again.

"So how did you get involved with this?" he asked conversationally. I noticed he was no longer throwing me out for spins and twirls and I was internally grateful.

"My sister started dancing the second she could pull herself up by the coffee table. By the time I was born and able to walk she was enrolled in dance class and I was her own personal guinea pig. As you can see she hasn't stopped dancing since and drags me along any chance she gets. Especially now that she is teaching the classes and not taking them.

"So why do you agree to it if you don't enjoy it?"

"Its not that I don't enjoy it, I do, I just wish she wouldn't force it on me. She never asks me whether I wanna go or not she just takes control. I know she is trying to look out for me but I've made it 21 year I think I can handle things for myself now. Ugh it makes me so angry sometimes!" I stamped my foot to emphasize my point and he chuckled.

"What?!" I demanded, irked that he was laughing at me again.

"I've never actually seen someone stamp their foot before. It was cute." He chuckled again.

If he laughed at me one more time I was going to stomp on his foot!

"So why don't you ask your parents to talk to her about it?"

"We don't really have parents."

"That was cryptic. What do you mean?"

"Well my dad ran off when I was 13 and shortly after that my mom decided to take Hollywood by storm and didn't think we would help her image so she took off in the middle of the night. She was dead body number 3 in a CSI: Miami episode a couple years ago. it was the first time we saw her since she left. It's been me and Al ever since.

Why am I telling him all this? I just met him. I know nothing about him. Why does he even care? I pondered this the rest of the time we danced, which wasn't that long. A few minutes later Rosalie called us all to order as it was.

"Alright great job everyone! We'll be working our way from steps to aerials in the next few weeks so be sure to practice and keep up the good work. We'll see you all on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!"

As everyone started milling around, I tried to sneak out the door but found my hand captured by a larger warm, strangely familiar one. I looked up into Edwards smirking face as he pulled me towards the others.

"I believe Rosalie and my brother have plans for us tonight." He was still smiling slightly. I just glared at him and groaned as he dragged me along.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

EPOV

I had a feeling if I let go of her hand before we made it back to the others she would try and book it for the door again so held on tight. I would never admit to anyone, but I actually enjoyed tonight. Instead of staring at me the entire time, my partner barely looked at me at all. The few times she did, I noticed her eyes. They were a peculiar color, somewhere between dark green and brown and what looked like a hint of blue. They were actually quite beautiful, like the person they belonged... What the heck was I saying?! She didn't even like me. It was obvious by the glares she kept sending my way. Of course that could be because I won't give her her hand back. Not yet at any rate. We finally made it over to the others, and from the sounds of it, we were headed out to dinner at Red Robin. I could deal with that. I liked those BBQ wraps they had, just without the ranch.

"Bella, can Edward ride with you. Rose and Em want to be alone, and my car and hold 4 people."

"Guess I don't really have a choice do I," she muttered grudgingly. Since I was standing next to her, I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I don't bite…much."

I watched as her face flushed red yet again. I wasn't the only one to notice either.

"Well Bella, this has got to be some kind of record. 4 times in one night. And don't think I missed that little fumble of your on the dance floor." She then turned to address me. "Nice save by the way. How are your feet? No bruises or broken toes I hope."

"Not one. Bella did very well," I said glancing down at the topic of discussion to give her a quick wink.

"Again I am impressed. No ambulance this wee, Bella they are gonna think you moved out of town." My eyes got wider at this news, but as I looked down at Bella, I could see she needed rescuing.

"So are we gonna eat tonight or what?" I asked, turning quickly back to the others.

"Rose and I need to close up shop, but that shouldn't take to long. If you and Bella wanna leave now and get us a table that would be great."

"Works for me if it works for the driver," I said looking at Bella again to see that she had more or less returned to her normal skin tone.

"Let's go," she murmured, turning to leave, and pulling me with her. We barely made it out the door when she stopped. Confused, I looked down to see her staring at me with a grateful expression on her face.

"Thanks for that. She doesn't really know when to stop. It gets kinda old."

"You are very welcome," I replied with a slight nod. Again I saw that smirk cross her face as she said, "Can I have my hand back now, I kinda have to drive."

It was my turn to flush red as I relinquished her hand motioning for her to lead on. She walked over and stopped next to a red truck that had to be 100 years old. I walked around to the passenger side door as she got in and leaned across the cab to unlock my door. I got in and put my seatbelt on as she turned the ignition. The roar of the engine actually made me jump and I looked over to see Bella with a full blown smile on her face, teeth and all. She was actually quite pretty when she wasn't glaring, as I had seen her do all night so far.

"It's a beast I know, but its mine. I saved up for 2 years and I am quite proud of it." She said all this with a laughing tone and I couldn't help but smile along with her.

"It has a certain charm I suppose."

We drove mostly in silence to the restraint about 15 minutes away. We walked in and the seating hostess took one look at us and started staring.

"Table for 6 please, our party will be joining us momentarily," I said casually. She grabbed 6 menus and led us over to a corner booth, all the while throwing "subtle" glances back towards Bella and me. I sighed quietly as she seated us.

"Your server will be with you in a few moments." And with one last glance, she hurried towards the kitchen.

"I take it that happens a lot?" Bella asked once the hostess left.

"All the time, it gets really annoying. That is usually why I don't go out a lot. Everyone always stares at me like I'm a human freak show. I wish I knew what they were staring at so I could at least try and do something about it." I sighed, dropping my head on my arm that was resting on the table.

Bella laughed at my dramatics. "It's nice to know you're not conceited."

"About what?"

"Your looks," she said simply. Before I could question her further, the others joined us. However, with a comment like that, I found myself wondering what she thought of me.

BPOV

I heard the others long before I ever saw them. I assumed the booming laugh that I heard was Emmett and sure enough, a couple seconds later they all came around the corner clutching their sides. Their laughter increased in volume as the caught sight of us and made their way across the restaurant drawing stares from all around. They half slid half collapsed into the booth pushing Edward and me to the left edge which suited me just fine. 1) I was left handed and 2) if I was on the edge, I could make a run for it much easier. Once they had all calmed down enough I started the questioning.

"What the heck was so funny? I think the windows were rattling in their frames."

"Yes, do tell," Edward commanded from my right.

They all took one look at Edwards curious face and busted a gut all over again. We glanced at each other and I leaned in. "I think we missed something."

"I think you might be right," was his reply. Our questioning was put on hold as our server showed up at that moment.

"My name is Lauren and I will be your serve this evening. Can I get ya'll started with something to drink?" No one missed the way she only spoke to Edward, eyes wide in awe. This brought me snickers from across the table.

"What'll it be," Edward leaned over and asked. "Wait, wait let me guess." He closed his eyes and pretended to concentrate. "I am gonna have to go with… a Shirley Temple."

He was right! My face must have registered my surprise, because he chuckled. "Am I right?"

"As a matter of fact you are," I said with an indignant sniff. "How did you know?"

"I'm clairvoyant." He said tapping his temple.

"It's nice to meet you Claire. That is such a cute name!" I said cheerily, grinning.

The rest of the table busted up again.

"Ha ha, real funny Bella." He said, poking my side causing me to jump and squeak slightly. "Oh, so she's ticklish is she." He stated attacking my sides with his fingers. I tried unsuccessfully, to wriggle away without jumping out of the booth.

"Stop Edward, we are in a restaurant!" I managed to get out between laughs. He relented, and I managed to catch my breath. "There will be payback, make no mistake," I said wagging my finger in front of his face. Our drinks came then and I was saved from the strange expressions on the others faces.

"Have we decided what we want yet?" Lauren asked after handing out the drinks. I noticed she was no longer staring at Edward, she was looking at me. Actually glaring might be a better description.

"Um, ill have the, uh, BBQ burger please," I stuttered, confused by her attitude towards me. Edward rescued me again.

"I will have the BBQ wrap, but with not ranch thanks." The rest of the table proceeded to give their orders. Both Al and Rose got caesar salads, Jasper got a cheese burger, and Emmett got _**2**_ pot roast burgers.

"Hey," Jasper called to me across the table. "Don't let her get to you. She's just jealous." At this, the others started grinning.

"Ok, honestly guys what have you been laughing about all night?"

"Go on Emmett, explain." Rose said through giggles.

"Me?! Why me?!" he exclaimed.

"Because we just met him," she gestured around the table at the rest of us. "And he is your brother."

"Fine," he grumbled. "On our way in here, the hostess was talking to the other waitresses." He hesitated.

"And?" Edward and I prompted at the same time, then looked at each other and started laughing.

"Continue."

He looked over at Rosalie. "I can't believe you are making _me_ tell them…. Ok so the hostess was telling the waitresses about this guy she just seated and how he had these dreamy blue eyes and beautiful angel face with gorgeous red brown hair yada yada," during this his voice went up an octave as if imitating a teenager at a pop concert. "Anyways we stuck around for a few minutes to see who they were talking about and she pointed right at you. The other girls looked and started fanning themselves and stumbling all over the hallway." By this time our meal had come but we were all laughing to hard to eat. Except Edward. He was sitting there his mouth open in a very unattractive way his face bright red. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt and I was gasping for breath. We finally calmed down enough to start eating, but Edwards face was no longer bright red and completely shocked. He was slightly pale, his lips pressed into a hard line.

"Lighten up bro, I would be asking for numbers if I didn't have such a wonderful girlfriend already."

"Nice save," Rosalie said, lightly punching him in the arm.

We finished up the meal soon after. But Edward didn't say anything the entire rest of the meal. We rode back to the studio so Rose and Jazz could pick up their cars.

"Well, it was nice to meet you," I said as we pulled up and parked outside the studio. "Thanks for the dance."

"It was my pleasure. Are you going to be at the class again on Tuesday?"

"Alice usually finds some way to get me there."

"I'll see you then," he grinned a crooked smile that left me momentarily speechless. He got out of the car and turned around, one hand on the top of the door, one on the roof, and leaned down to see me. "Have a good night," he said with a wink, and closed the door.

"You too," I called back after a moment still stunned.

I drove home in a bit of a haze, put my pajamas on, and climbed into bed, wondering all the while about Mr. Edward Cullen.

"At least I have something to look forward to on Tuesday," I thought to myself as I rolled over, clutched to Baldy (my teddy bear. Yes I sleep with a stuffed animal) and fell asleep.

EPOV

"What were you thinking? You've never acted that way before! You barely know her!" I scolded myself the entire way home which didn't take very long because I was driving faster than usual. All I wanted was to get home and sleep it off. I pulled into the driveway and saw Emmett's jeep. Great. I would just bet that he was sitting there waiting to ambush me. I knew that if he didn't see me downstairs he would just barge in my room and interrupt my dreamless sleep so I shut the front door and walked into the living room. Sure enough, he was sitting on the couch playing Halo. He minute he heard the door shut, he paused his game and turned to look at me, a huge goofy grin on his face.

"Have fun tonight, little bro?"

"It was alright I guess," I had had enough time in between the restaurant and now to cool down after he made his little "announcement" about the waitresses. "I am gonna head up to bed. Are mom and dad home yet?"

"No, moms pulling a double and dad got called in for an emergency bypass. He left about 20 minutes ago."

"Alright, ill see you in the morning then. Night." I said on a yawn heading up the stairs. As I got ready for bed I tried to think of things to distract me from thinking of Bella, but it didn't work. My mind kept going back to her. How easy it was to talk to her without having to worry about her falling on her face because she was staring at me. "Bella seems to be able to fall on her face no matter how she tries to prevent it," I thought. On our way into the restaurant, she stumbled slightly on the pavement but it didn't seem to faze her. I chuckled at the memory. That Bella Swan was something else entirely, and for some reason I could wait to learn more.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

BPOV

I woke up early as was my usual and put on my overalls getting ready for the day. I made sure to grab my flannel jacket. It was unusually cold for this time of year and it being 7:30 in the morning didn't help any. I walked out to the barn and filled the wheel barrel with grain (making a mental note to get more as we were running low) and started making my rounds. First were the goats. They were easy enough. I gave each one a pat on the head and moved onto the horses.

We had 5 horses. Sir Prize was a Palomino Quarter horse. He had a sandy colored coat with what looked like freckles scattered all over his body. He was the youngest we had but also the biggest, and my most favorite. He looked menacing but he wouldn't hurt a fly (except for maybe the ones that hang around his eyes). He is also easily spooked. I learned that the hard way after we came across a cat in the field one day. He reared up, throwing me off his back. I landed on the tip of a piece of rebar that we used to fence in the corral. I ended up going to the hospital that night and they gave me some pain medication for internal bruising and made me promise not to ride for 3 days. So instead, I went out the next day and put small logs on all the rebar in the fence line. His mother, Princess, was the most gentle animal you will ever meet. We rode her only when there were small children around. She was getting older but she was fearless and nothing spooked her.

"How are we doing today girl. Huh? Let me check that leg of yours." A couple of days ago she scared a raccoon in the field and it took a chunk out of her leg. "Looking good sweetie, just take it easy for a bit. No running around flirting with the boys now ok. We gotta keep that cut clean." I scratched her neck and gave her a piece of sugar I pulled out of my pocket. Sir Prize whined from the other stall.

"Oh stop you big baby. Can't you see she is injured. She needs special attention," I scolded him. All he did was look at me with those big brown eyes and I caved. "Oh fine be that way. Here," I said as he closed his kips around the offered cube. "You are such a pig." I rubbed his nose. I finished my rounds and fed the left over grain to the chickens. I put the wheel barrel back and headed back to the house.

As I walked in, I smelled coffee and knew that Angela was making breakfast. My friend since I moved here my junior year, I moved in with her and her family on their dairy farm soon after we graduated. In exchange for free food room and board and a 250 a month stipend all I had to do was feed and groom all the animals, make sure they got out in the field for some daily exercise and muck out the stalls every few days. All in all it was actually a pretty nice arrangement.

I snuck a look at the clock in the living room on my way to the kitchen. 10:30. my rounds shouldn't usually take so long but I spend a lot of time around the horses in the morning. I peaked my head in the kitchen.

"Hey Ang. Can you let your mom know I headed into town? We are running low on grain and the new horses don't have any salt blocks yet." The other 3 horses occupying the barn we bought from a neighboring ranch that just filed for bankruptcy.

I climbed up into my cab, and smiled at the roar of the beast. If the rest of the family wasn't awake before, they were now. I pulled out of the long driveway and hit the highway settling in for the 30 minute drive to town. About 25 minutes out, my truck started to sputter and smoke.

"Not again." I muttered to myself pulling over to the side of the road. I put it in park and popped the hood. Usually when it started to sputter all I had to do was wiggle and tighten a few things but I had no idea what was making it smoke. I kicked the bumper and rested my head on my hands in defeat. Of all the days to leave my phone on the charger. I was about to resign myself to walking the rest of the way to town when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned slowly around to look into a pair of familiar blue eyes.

EPOV

I was driving down old highway 99 on my way to a family friends house when I spotted a girl on the side of the road kicking the bumper of an ancient yet familiar red truck. The hood was popped and the engine was smoking black fumes. I pulled around in the closest driveway as I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Emmett.

"Hey Em."

"He Eddie what can I do you for this fine day?" I chuckled at his greeting.

"Think you can meet me about 5 minutes out of town on old 99 with the jeep?"

"Sure. Mind if I ask why?"

"Let's just say there is a beast on the side of the road looking lost. Hey and bring the tow cable while you are at it. I have a feeling we will be needing it."

"Alright. See ya in a few."

"Thanks I owe you one." I said as I hung up the phone.

I pulled over several feet in from of the truck giving Emmett room enough to pull in and hook up the cables if needed. I walked over and gently tapped her shoulder watching as she jumped slightly then turned around slowly her face registering defensiveness and defiance as if preparing to fight off whoever was bothering her, and then relief as she recognized who I was and grinned. That grateful smile left me momentarily stunned and it took me a second to for a coherent thought.

"Problems," I managed, gesturing towards the smoking vehicle.

"I don't know what's wrong. Usually I can just wriggle and tighten a few things and its just fine. It's never done this before." She said on an exasperated sigh. "And I left my phone on the charger at home. Do you have a cell phone I can use?"

"No need. I already called Emmett. He should be here momentarily. With a tow cable I might add."

She gave me that grateful smile again. "Thank you so much."

"Glad I could be of assistance." I smiled back. At that moment Emmett's jeep roared to a stop behind us. He got out took one look at Bella, and started laughing.

"What is it this time?" I asked as soon as he was close enough and his laughter had died down some.

"Rose kept telling me about that…monstrosity but I thought she was exaggerating!"

Bella gave him a pointed look, but still managed a sincere smile.

"I am glad you came all this way to laugh at me Emmett. I know I can be _so_ entertaining." She said mockingly. He just laughed and clapped her on the back, sending her staggering forward slightly from the force of it.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" he said leaning over to take a look under the hood.

"I dunno," she repeated. "Its never smoked like this before. Usually I will just tinker with a few things and it'll be fine." At this Emmett's shoulders started shaking again.

"Tinker," he said. "It's a wonder its lasted this long. Ill have to get back to my shop and get underneath her to get a better look. Eddie give me a hand with the tow cable will ya." I gritted my teeth at the use of the nickname I hated. We got the truck hooked up a minute later and Emmett headed out with a wave.

"Great. Now I have no way of getting the grain." She muttered to herself, flailing her arms wildly.

"Grain?" I questioned.

"For the horses!"

I lifted my eyebrow in question.

"I work on a dairy farm. It's my job to make sure the animals are fed and we ran out of grain this morning." She supplied.

"I see." I thought for a moment. "Hang on." I said holding up a finger as I pulled out my phone and dialed.

"Em, Do you know what car dad took to work?"

"What do you think? Of course he took the Mercedes. Why?"

Bella has some stuff she's gotta pick up. I am going to head home grab the truck and then take her home."

"Alright ill call and let mom know where'll you'll be."

"Thanks. I will see you later." I hung up and look over at Bella in time to see her eyes narrow slightly.

"You don't have to do that you know. I don't expect you to put a stop to your entire day for me."

As it happens, I have nothing to do today that I can't put off until tomorrow. And if I hadn't come along, you would still be walking to town." I winked at her then turned around to my car and opened the passenger side door.

She walked over, arms crossed a slight lift to her chin. "Thank you." She said, sliding in as I closed the door. This was certainly going to be an interesting day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

**Chapter 5**

BPOV

"I can't believe I am sitting in his car," I though irrationally. I mean, I gave him a ride to the restaurant, he is just returning the favor. What is the big freaking deal?! Why was he having such an affect on me? Or better yet, why was I _letting_ him have such an affect on me? We sat there in silence for several minutes, which suited me just fine. I needed to collect my thoughts. However, he didn't seem to like silence.

"So whatever inspired you to work on a dairy farm?"

"I love horses. Believe me when I say if I had to go anywhere new the cows, I wouldn't be working there. I don't do cows." I shuddered and he laughed. "When my parents were still around, we owned a horse named Shadow which was slightly ironic because he was white as snow. My dad loved horses and I guess you could say he passed it on to me. Al never really got into it like I did. I would ride Shadow every chance I got. I wasn't supposed to ride him without supervision. I don't know if you've noticed I can be a bit stubborn." He looked at me one eyebrow cocked, which told me he'd definitely noticed. I continued, "I got in trouble a lot for riding him without an "adult" present."

"What about Alice?"

"She didn't want to be taken from her clothes. Anyways we ended up having to sell him. I was so angry at my dad I didn't talk to him for a week. I still miss him, but at least now I can ride Sir Prize. He isn't quite as docile as Shadow was, his attitude flares every once in a while, but he is still a sweetheart. And boy is he fast! I love leaning low in the saddle and just galloping around the field."

"Sounds like fun."

"It is wonderful," I replied on a dreamy sigh. It got quiet again but not for long. This time I had questions.

"So what about you?" I asked.

"What about me?"

"Well you've somehow managed to get my entire life story and I don't know anything about you. So again I say, 'what about you'?"

"What do you want to know?"

"I dunno. Start from the beginning."

"Well, Emmett is 4 years older than me. We were born in Seattle. My parents' names are Carlisle and Esme…"

"Those are just details. I want stories. How did you lose your first tooth? Have you broken any bones? That kind of thing."

"Ok. Well let's see. I broke my first bone when I was 3. Emmett had just gotten a Superman costume for Halloween and wanted to see if the cape could really make you fly or not, but he didn't want to test it himself. He's smarter than he looks. Anyways he decided I would be a perfect candidate so he put the cape on me and then shoved me off the top of our 8 ft. tall swing and slide set. I broke my leg in 3 places and had to wear a full leg cast for 8 weeks and then do physical therapy. Emmett thought it was funny till he got all his toys taken away for a month."

"Sadly I can totally picture Emmett doing that and I just met him." He laughed at that. After a few more minutes he pulled off the road onto what looked like a dirt back road but was actually a driveway. The shroud of trees gave way to the most beautiful house I had ever seen. It must have been at least 3 stories. It had vines and ivy crawling up the sides which gave it an old Victorian feeling. The front steps led up to a gorgeous double door entrance that I saw only in passing. We continued on back to what I assumed was the garage. Sure enough, as we pulled up, Edward hit a button and the door opened. There must have been a motion sensor somewhere because as we pulled in the lights turned on and I gasped. Inside were some of the nicest cars and bikes I had ever seen. I looked over, my mouth probably wide open, to see Edward with a huge smile on his face.

"We like to drive fast," he said by way of explanation.

"How many cars do you have?" I asked incredulously.

"Well Dads got the Mercedes the Silverado diesel I have the Volvo Em's got the Jeep Moms got the Porsche and the red BMW the Aston Martin is only for special occasions. We each have a motorcycle 4 wheeler dirt bike and jet ski. And that one behind you is my baby." He said almost reverently. I turned around and almost fainted.

"Is that a 1968 hunter green Mustang gt-a 390?" his jaw dropped.

"How…Wha…Huh?" apparently he's never gotten that reaction before. "You know cars?" he managed after what seemed like several minutes.

"Cars. No. This car. Heck yes! This is an exact replica of the mustang Steve McQueen drove in Bullitt!"

"It's not a replica," he said simply.

"What do you mean it's not a replica?" I asked unbelieving. He speared me with a look and my eyes grew wide. "You mean to tell me that this is _the_ car, _the_ mustang that was in Bullitt?!"

He nodded. "One of the 2 at least."

"Wha…How…" it was my turn to be speechless. "Where the heck did you get it?!"

"My dad bought it. Technically the title is in his name, but he bought it as a graduation gift for college."

"Graduation? You've graduated from college already?"

"I graduated high school 2 years early and went straight to Stanford. I have a 4 year degree in historical literature and music theory."

"Wow."

"What?"

"I am suddenly feeling extremely insignificant."

"Why?"

"We are the same age."

"Soo?" He seemed confused for some reason.

"And you already have a 4 year degree and I can barely make it through junior college."

"You just have to motivate yourself. Set a goal for yourself and then give it your all."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to sit and endure our underpaid grumpy old fart teachers who don't even want to be there but need the insurance."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"You have no idea." We stared at each other for a couple minutes before he smiled.

"We had better head out before your animal charges die of starvation."

"I suppose you are right. Can I touch it?" I looked longingly back at the mustang.

"Would you like me to take a picture of you with it?" he asked with a chuckle.

I lit up. "Would you? Really?! Oh crap, I don't have my phone." I felt around in my pockets then remembered.

"That's ok. Ill just use my phone and send it to you."

"Are you sure?!"

He nodded. "Of course." I grinned again.

"You rock." He laughed.

"Just don't sit on it." He called.

I whirled around a look of shock on my face at such a suggestion. "I would never!" I exclaimed feigning insult. He laughed outright at that.

"Just get over there already."

I walked over and rested my shoulder against the door with my arms crossed and a huge goofy grin on my face. I head the click of the camera and ran over to proof it.

"You look like you could be a model for a classic car dealer." I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed again.

"Real mature Bella."

"Hey just because I am getting older doesn't mean I have to grow up," I said crossing my arms stubbornly and sticking my chin in the air. "So are we gonna go or stand her all day analyzing my maturity level." He laughed for the 5th time that day.

"Alright, lets go." He said walking me over to the truck.

"Do you and Emmett usually date tall girls?" I asked offhand. That got his attention.

"What?!"

"Well, since most of your vehicles are abnormally large I just assumed they were made to accommodate women over 6 ft. tall."

He smirked. "We just figure that if we are gonna get into an accident, may as well make it an impressive one."

"That's really morbid, you do know what right?"

He hid a smile. "Just get in the truck Bella."

"How?" he rolled his eyes and putting his hands on my waist lifted me effortlessly into the cab.

EPOV

I lifted her into the cab, noticing how little effort it took. For being 5'6" she was quite light. I walked around and jumped in on the drivers' side.

"Show off," she muttered. I turned and winked at her.

"So where to?" I asked, starting the car and putting it in gear.

"Cennex please."

"Your wish is my command," I said and pulled out onto the road. She rolled her eyes. We talked about random things for the 10 minutes that it took to get to the feed store. We parked and she got out and headed inside.

"Hey Barb. How's it going?" She greeted the blonde at the counter.

Doing good Bella. What can we get for you today?

"Just the usual amount of grain. Actually we are gonna have to add another 3 bags to that order from now on and I need 3 salt blocks. Oh and another halter. Sir Prize won't stop growing!"

Barb laughed at her tone. "So how are the new additions to the family doing?"

"As good as can be expected. They were a little on the thin side when they first arrived but we fixed that right away. They are still a little skittish around the other animals so we are keeping them corralled a bit longer before we let them out in the field."

"How long have you had them?"

"Oh about 3, 4 weeks."

"And you are just now getting them their salt blocks?" she asked, acting miffed.

"I haven't been able to make it to town lately." Bella replied sheepishly.

"Now don't give me that rubbish. My Rosie told me just last night that you were at her dance class. And where are your manners young lady," she scolded teasingly. "Aren't you gonna introduce me to your friend here?" she gestured in my direction.

I came forward and offered my hand seeing Bella flush red. It seemed to be a common occurrence in my presence. "Edward Cullen Ma'am. It's nice to make your acquaintance."

"Well aren't you a cutie. You must be related to Rosie's Emmett she can't stop talking about. Barbara Jenkins."

"It's a pleasure Barbara."

"Oh please, it's Barb." She gave my hand a final shake and leaned over to Bella. "He's polite Bella dear. And a handsome one at that. Better snatch him up while you can." She'd covered her mouth as if telling a secret but said it loud enough for anyone within 10 ft. to hear. I watched as Bella's now only slightly red face flushed scarlet again. Annoyance towards Barb flared up along with a protectiveness for Bella that I didn't expect. Where the heck did that come from?

To cover for Bella as well as myself I asked, "So, Barb, perhaps you can help me. I have been thinking about getting my mom a dog, but I have no idea where to start."

"Well then just follow me on back here and ill see what I can do for ya," and with that she was off and running. I looked back long enough to see Bella mouth "thank you" as she walked in the other direction. To look at a halter I assumed (whatever that was). I followed Barb and she started firing questions at me. "What kind of dog does she like? Big. Small. Long hair or short. Active or docile." And so on and so forth. I already knew what kind of dog my mom liked, but I answered her questions anyways. I was surprised when she nailed it right on.

"She sounds like someone who would do good with a lab or retriever." I was amazed. The puppy that I was looking at was a chocolate lab/retriever mix.

"Thank you Barb. You have been a great help." I said sincerely.

"So what do you think of our Bella? Quite the looker isn't she?" she asked quietly, but not quiet enough. Before I had a chance to answer, Bella was at my side gripping my arm and talking to Barb.

"I think we had better be going. I really have to get back to the ranch."

"Of course dear, your order is in the back. Did you find a halter?"

"I like this one here. And it's red! My favorite color!" I made sure to make a mental note of that.

"Its perfect dear, ill put it on the tab with the rest of the order."

"Alright, we will head around back and pick it up. I will see you later Barb." She called, practically dragging me out the door.

"Hurry back dear don't be a stranger! Tell Walt and Linda I say hello!" she called back.

"Sorry about that," Bella began once we were outside. "I love Barb to death but she doesn't really know how to mind her own business."

"How did you meet her?" I got the impression there was more to the relationship than just work.

"Rose and Jaspers parents were killed in a car accident shortly after Al's and my mom left. All of us kind of banded together and Barb sort of adopted us since she doesn't have any children. She really is a wonderful person, just a bit nosy at times."

"You are as lucky to have her as she is to have you." I smiled at her. We arrived around back with the truck then and were greeted by a young guy about 16 carrying a 50 lb. bag of what I assumed was grain.

"Hey Bella," he said with a smile.

"Hey Jake. Hows it going?"

"Doing good. This for you?" she nodded. "You must have added to the family."

"Yep. 3 mares. We are hoping to breed them with Sir Prize when they are healthy enough." As she said this, she walked over and hefted another 50 lb. bag over her shoulder. I started to protest, but Jake stopped me, speaking in a low voice.

"Just let her go. She prefers to do things by herself if you haven't noticed. Names Jake." He stuck out his free hand.

"Edward," I said grasping his hand firmly in my own. "Nice to meet you."

"So how did you get mixed up with Bella?" he said lightheartedly. I laughed as I grabbed a bag and threw it in the bed of the truck.

"Don't tell anyone else, but I got drug to a dance class and Bella ended up being my partner."

"How are your feet?" he asked innocently. We both laughed.

"Well, that's the lot," Bella said, heaving the last bag into the bed and kicking in the salt blocks. "Take it easy Jake."

"See ya bells," he called back.

"Alright, where to now?" I asked as we hit the road.

"Back to the farm. Take a left on 99." We made it back in about 20 minutes and I helped her unload the bags into the barn.

"Can you get those salt blocks for me?"

"Sure. Where do you want them?"

"Just throw them next to the grain and ill deal with them later. Thanks." Once we were finished she walked me back out to the truck.

"Thanks again for everything. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up when you did." She said, sincerity ringing in every word.

"It was my pleasure. I had better get going." I paused for a second. "You will be there on Tuesday right." I confirmed.

"I don't know when my truck will be done, but Alice is apparently planning on it, so for now, yes."

I stared at her for a moment, then grinned and winked at her starting the truck.

"See ya later, Bell." I called over the roar of the diesel engine, waved, then started on my way home.


	6. Chapter 6

EPOV

EPOV

I walked into the house after watching Edward drive off and was immediately cornered by Angela. She had the strangest expression on her face that I couldn't begin to read. She was obviously excited about something though.

"Hey Ang. How as your day?" I asked. Maybe she had finally got the call back about her jockey's license.

"You drive up with one of the best looking guys I have ever seen in my entire life and you ask how _my_ day was?!"

I rolled my eyes. "He is just a friend, Ang. Nothing to hyperventilate about."

"Uh huh sure. I saw the way you looked at him. You like him don't you? What is his name? Does he have any brothers?" she was jumping up and down like a jack hammer.

I sighed. "Yes I like him. He is a friend. I usually like my friends otherwise I wouldn't talk to them. His name is Edward and yes he has a brother named Emmett who is dating Rose."

"Oh my gosh! that is Rose's new boyfriends brother?! If his brother is half as good looking as he is, him and Rose are gonna have gorgeous kids."

"They have only been dating for like 2 months, Ang. Don't be to disappointed if it doesn't work out," I said exasperated.

"Oh it will, don't worry. I know these things. Trust me." She replied confidently.

I had a feeling we were no longer talking about Rose and Emmett, but she walked off and I didn't have a chance to question her. I looked over at the clock. It was almost 4! How did it take that long? I then realized that I had no transportation and no way to find out how my truck was coming along. I suppose I could call Rose and get Emmett's number but I didn't have the time. I had to get out and feed the horses again soon, and then fix dinner. That was another part of the living arrangement. I agreed to cool 1 meal every day. Angela like cooking breakfast, so I agreed I would cook dinner. I then realized I had no idea what I was going to cook. I rummaged through the cupboards and finally just settled on mac and cheese. It was quick and easy.

I went outside to the barn and this time gave each horse a flake of hay and a couple carrots in their grain pales. I brushed them all down thoroughly. Except for Sir Prize. I usually took him out before putting him away for the night. It was a nice way to relax from the day. And today I definitely had a lot to think about. I headed back to the house after one last pat to his nose, and washed up before starting dinner. There was usually only 4 of us but we all got hungry after working all day so I made 3 boxes. I had just finished up when everyone came in. Linda greeted me with a hug and a wink.

"Thanks for the wake up call this morning. I didn't think I would ever get Walt out of bed."

"You're very welcome," I grinned back. At one time, their way of teasing would have made me blush, but now I was used to it. Everyone served themselves and we sat down and dug in.

"So, Angie tells me you had a visitor today Bella." Linda said casually. That caused me to blush.

"It was nothing. My truck broke down and Edward passed me on the road. He had it towed and then offered to drive me around to my errands."

"Oh honey why didn't you just call one of us. We would have picked you up."

"I would have but my phone was charging on my dresser. It was lucky he drove by when he did or I would have had to walk toe rest of the way to town."

"So where is your truck?" Walt asked.

"His brother Emmett towed it. I don't know where. I am probably going to have to call Rose and find out."

"Why would Rose know?"

"Oh Emmett is Rose's new boyfriend."

"Are you talking about Emmett and Edward Cullen?"

"Do you know them?" I asked surprised she would know the name.

"Not the boy's no. but Dr. Cullen did Walt's heart surgery a couple years ago. From what I've heard they are a very nice family."

"Very rich to," Angela threw in as a side note.

"Angela Mae, you know better than to talk about people that way," her mother scolded.

"It was just an observation."

"That is still no way to talk about other people." We finished up dinner on that note. Walt and Linda did the dishes and I headed outside for my nightly ride. It was almost 8 but it was the middle of the summer and around here that meant it didn't get fully dark till after 10. I saddled up Sir Prize and then hit the open field. I could feel the knots start to relax as we galloped to the creek that ran through the middle of the property. We spent the next hour out there, just running around but eventually we had to come back in. I brushed him till he almost shone. And gave him another carrot before heading to the house. I got up to my room and checked my phone. I had 6 missed calls. 3 were from Alice, 2 from Ang and one from a number I didn't recognize. I checked my voicemail and smiled involuntarily at the voice on the other end.

"Hey Bella, it Edward. Shortly after I left I realized you would have no idea where to go to check up on your truck so I called Rose and got your number. I hope you don't mind. Emmett's shop is downtown on the corner of 1st and Fir. The number is 555-0519. See you Tuesday." He paused for a moment and I heard clicking noises in the background before he came back on. "And I just sent you your picture." I listened to the other messages but didn't really hear them. All I was hearing was his voice on my cell phone. This boy was confusing me. But I made sure reset my wallpaper and to save both­ numbers in my phone.

EPOV

I was amazed at how quickly the weekend flew by. Before I knew it, Emmett and I were headed to the studio. This time in separate cars. Once I assured him that I had no intention of bailing out, he relented and let me drive my own car. I knew Bella's truck wasn't fixed yet, so I had called and offered her a ride, but she said she already had one but that they would be a little late, so I walked in and headed straight for Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, ignoring the people that were staring. Shortly after I arrived, Bella came in with a blonde girl, both laughing hysterically and clutching their sides and trying to walk at the same time, which for Bella I have noticed is probably not safe. Sure enough, before I could close the distance she stumbled, apparently on air, and fell flat on her butt. This caused both girls to start laughing even harder and soon the other girl collapsed on the grounded next to Bella, both gasping for air.

"This sounds like fun," I said finally reaching them.

"Don't mind us Edward," Bella said, still breathless.

"Care to share?" They took one look at each other, and started laughing all over again. It was another several minutes before they composed themselves and I was helping them to their feet.

"Sorry about that. Inside joke." She said at my questioning look.

"Feel like sharing?" I asked innocently.

"Heck No! This is one of those stories I am taking to my grave. And you had better too!" she pointed accusingly to the other girl.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." She did the motions and then saluted like a girl scout. This sent them into more giggles.

"Bella if you don't introduce me to you friend I might have ignore you the rest of the night." I said.

"Ok," was her answer. I looked at her wide eyed and shocked, pretending to be hurt.

"Fine be that way. I just won't talk to you anymore," and with that I turned and stalked off, holding my own laughter.

"Alright, alright come back here!" she grabbed my arm and pulled me back over. "Edward this is Angela. Ang this is Edward."

"Nice to meet you," we both said at the same time shaking hands and all 3 of us started laughing.

"We had better get over there, apparently you and I are going to be the demonstrators tonight." I watched a look of horror cross her face and laughed again. "I'm kidding." Her face registered relief as she punched my arm.

"Not cool, twinkle toes."

"What did you just call me?" Oh, she did not just call me…

"Twinkle toes. Is there something wrong?" she asked in a sing-song voice, as if nothing was going on.

"Oh its on Bella, you are going down."

"What are you going to do, flash me with your headlights?"

I brought myself up to full height and leaned over her slightly. "I'm just gonna bide my time. You won't even see it coming." The slight twinkle in her eye made it obvious she didn't believe me, so before I could think about what I was doing, I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. I then turned to Angela, her eyes wide mouth agape.

"If you will follow me, I will take you over to the others." She looked at Bella, all this while screaming and flailing and her mouth formed into a grin. About the time we reached everyone else, Bella had stopped screaming and flailing. She now had her arms relatively crossed and was speaking to me in what she must have thought sounded like firm tones.

"Edward Cullen, you put me down this instant, or so help me I will…"

"You will what Bella?" I cut her off. "Put me in time out?" I laughed.

She continued on as if I hadn't spoken. "I will cover your precious car in horse manure."

"Well then, that isn't much incentive to put you down now is it?"

"You may as well put her down Edward," Alice cut in. "We are going to be starting soon." I set her on her feet with an "umf" and backed away as she tried to land a kick to my shin.

"Ok everyone," Rosalie called over the crowd. "Today we are going to be doing aerials. If you already know how, you can either watch, or go to the other side of the room and start practicing." About half of the people broke off from the group and started across the floor.

I held out my hand to Bella. "Shall we?" she gave me what can only be termed as the worst "stink eye" I have ever seen, and turned to stomp towards the other group. I looked over to see Angela dancing with a guy slightly shorter than herself, but they seemed to be having a good time so I turned and followed behind Bella. We started dancing, and she immediately sought revenge. Coming in from a twirl, she stomped my foot so hard I staggered backwards, more from surprise than anything else.

"That was for not putting me down when I asked," she whispered sweetly. So a moment later I brought her in from a spin and kicked her legs out from underneath her, pulling her down fast into a low dip, only inches from the ground. On her gasp I smirked.

"That was for trying to kick me in the shin." I then pulled her up and spun her around enough times to make a grown man dizzy, then spiraled her back against my chest fast enough that her hair whipped around her face.

"And that," I said, leaning in low to whisper in her ear, "Was for stomping on my foot." The rest of the class followed in much the same fashion, with both of us throwing pushing stomping, trying to make the other falter, knowing all the while if one of us fell, the other would go down with them. It finally ended with both of us breathless from battle. She looked over at me and started laughing. Apparently I was forgiven so I joined in her laughter. The others suddenly appeared out of no where causing us to jump and laugh harder.

"That was some competition there," Jasper noted. "I thought you were gonna kill each other."

"We were trying. It was a tie," Bella got out between breaths causing everyone to laugh. After taking more time to compose herself, she smiled.

"I had better get going. Early morning chores and all."

"Oh Bella you go have some fun, I can do your chores for you in the morning." Angela said.

"Are you sure Ang," she asked hesitantly. "You don't have to."

"I don't mind one bit. The only problem would be how you are getting home."

"I can take her home," I said.

"Then it is settled," Alice clapped her hands. "And instead of driving all the way back to the farm, you can just stay in your old room tonight."

"Works for me," Bella replied and with that we were off to who knows where.

BPOV

I had no idea where we were going, but apparently it was somewhere "hip" because Alice said we all had to change first, so Rose Al and I all crammed into Al's mustang and headed over to Rose's house. They guys were gonna meet us back at the studio in about an hour.

"Where are we going that it is going to take an hour to get ready?" I asked as they literally threw clothes all around the room looking for just the right outfit. What I didn't know was it was an outfit for me. All of the sudden outfits were thrown my way.

"Bella go try these on."

"Are you guys going to tell me where we are going or not?"

"Not…until you try on these dresses," Alice said.

"Fine," I said heading for the bathroom. Considering they all came from Rose's closet, I doubted any of the clothes would fit me. I was surprised that 3 of them fit relatively well. I modeled them to Alice and Rose but they apparently didn't like them on me. The last outfit was a skirt and top. The skirt was black and came down to just above my knees. It was gathered slightly at the waist so when you spun in a circle it flared out. The top was an empire waist style tank top that "V'd" in the front. The bottom flowed out. The shoes that went with it were plain black with a rounded toe and slight heel. I came out and they grinned.

"Perfect," they said in unison.

"Ok, now can you tell me where we are going?" I asked.

"Alice found a swing dance club in Seattle, and we want to scope it out so we can take the class there." Rose was almost jumping off the bed in excitement.

"And who else is going? I don't want to be a 5th wheel because I don't have a date."

"Silly Bella," Rose chided, "Edward is escorting you tonight. Duh. You 2 dance so well together."

I felt the color drain from my face. It was one thing to dance with someone when you were in a class and everyone else around you is making mistakes as well. It is something else entirely to be surrounded by people who have been dancing for years and made me look like an awkward monkey. And to make things worse, I had to dance with Edward who, though I would never admit this to anyone ever, was more than good looking, he was drop dead gorgeous and could make walking look like an art form. I tried to calm myself as Al and Rose put a touch of makeup and pulled my hair back in a loose ponytail with a red ribbon. Another 15 minutes and we were ready to go, heading back to the studio to meet the guys.

I put my face in my hands. "This is going to be a disaster," I told them. "You'll see."

"Bella stop being such a drama queen, it will be just fine," Alice scolded me. I made the rest of the trip in silence, listening to Al and Rose talked excitedly about the club. Soon we pulled into the parking lot and got out.

"The guys are late. As usual." Rose whined. A few minutes later, Emmett's jeep pulled up and the guys got stepped out. Alice and Rose grinned and ran over to hug Jasper and Emmett, but I wasn't paying much attention to them because Edward was walking toward me, his hands in his pockets, like he had just stepped out of the 1950's. his hair was slicked back slightly and he was wearing plain black slacks, a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black suspenders. He looked even better than usual, which was saying a lot. He stopped a few feet in front of me and smiled.

"So do you have any idea where we are going? All Alice did was throw this pile of clothes at me and told me to be back in an hour."

"Apparently she found a swing dance club she wants to try out."

"I see," was all he would say.

"Ready?" Alice called.

"Yep." Edward called back offering me his arm. I look it and he smiled again. "Lets get this show on the road."


	7. Chapter 7

EPOV

EPOV

Bella looked absolutely adorable. Not a bad adorable like you would think a 6 year old looks in their Halloween costume. It was a good adorable, as in I wanted to grab her in a hug and kiss her, which was a really strange sensation for me, so instead I put my hands in my pockets in hopes that it would help, which it didn't. But at least it gave me something to do with my hands. I stopped a few feet in front of her, knowing that if I got any closer, I probably wouldn't be able to control myself.

"So do you know where we are going?" I asked in hopes of distracting her as well as myself. "All Alice did was throw this pile of clothes at me and told me to be back here in an hour."

"Apparently she has found a swing dance club she wants to try out."

"I see," was all I could say. "Oh mercy this is going to be an interesting night." I thought to myself.

"Ready?" Alice called.

"Yep." I called back and offered Bella my arm. She took it and I smiled at her touch. "Lets get this show on the road." I escorted her to the car and opened the door for her, then walked around got in and started the car.

"You look very nice tonight," I told her. She blushed and grinned.

"You look pretty snazzy yourself, mister," she said, nudging my arm. We made good time to Seattle. Especially since all us guys seemed to like to drive fast. We were having mini races down the freeway but I eventually gave the lead to Jasper and Alice seeing as they were the only ones who knew how to get there. We pulled up and parked in front of what looked like something you would see in downtown New York in the 1850's. it was about 3 stories high with staircases to the roof on each side of the building. There was nothing overly special about it. That is until you got inside.

There was as stage at the very front of the room, and the dance floor was huge. There were tables lining the outside of the dance floor, with red velvet covered chairs and white table clothes with candle center pieces. There were 2 staircases, one on either side of the room, leading up to the balcony, which was also covered with a red velvety carpet. Along the railing were tables for 2 identical to the ones on the lower level. Towards the back corner of the balcony was a large booth table again covered in red velvet. This was where we sat. There was an excellent view of the ballroom floor and the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were even more impressive up close. I looked over at Bella to see her eyes wide in awe. Knowing red was her favorite color, I knew she probably fell in love with this place the moment we walked in. we were seated a moment later. I noticed there was a small bar on the balcony as well as the lower level. It was then I noticed that although there were plenty of windows, most of them were blocked out, so that the only light was coming from the chandeliers and the candles, giving the room a warm romantic feeling.

"Great a romantic atmosphere. Just what I need." I thought to myself as I glanced at Bella sitting next to me, still admiring our surroundings. The band was playing softly in the background as we talked, (well I listened mostly) about how wonderful the facility was. At that moment, the band ended the mellow music they had been playing and started an upbeat jazzy number perfect for dancing. Alice and Rosalie jumped up excitedly, and grabbing Jasper and Emmett headed for the stairs. I slid out of the booth and without saying anything offered my and to Bella. She took it and with that we were off.

There was a crowd of people on the floor and that combined with the music made talking nearly impossible, so we just danced in silence for the next hour, both grinning like fools till we were out of breath. We were just about to clear the dance floor, when a man got up on stage with a mic.

"Thank you all for coming tonight. The band will be taking a short break right now, but feel free to keep dancing while we slow things down a bit."

"Feel like trying a slow one?" I leaned down and whispered in Bella's ear. She didn't say anything, just nodded her head slightly, so I took her hand and led her back out onto the floor.

BPOV

Michael Buble's "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" started playing as he led me back on to the dance floor. Taking my hand in his, we started to dance, his left hand on my waist my right on his shoulder. The rest of the floor was covered in dancing couples. I saw Jasper and Alice were in the corner, holding each other close spinning in slow circles. I didn't spot Emmett and Rose on the floor and I assumed they went back up to the table. Sure enough, as I looked up, I saw them dancing slowly by the railing. I finally looked back at Edward to see him smiling down at me.

"What are you staring at?" I asked shyly.

He just smiled wider. "Nothing." And then he twirled me out slowly and brought me back in, holding me closer than he had been before.

"So where did you learn to dance so well?" I asked to break the silence. It was unnerving to have him watch me so intently.

"My mom was a dancer before she decided to become a nurse. She taught us all how to dance. Although Emmett never quite got the hang of it. He would shoot me if he found out I told you this, but ever since Rosalie asked him to dance, he has been walking around the house trying to remember everything mom taught us years ago."

"He must really like her."

"I have never seen him act this way about any girl. Ever. And he has had his fair share of girlfriends over the years."

"Do you know how they met?" I was curious. He laughed quietly and I found I was beginning to like the musical sound as I heard it more and more.

"Emmett came home from the shop one day and would not shut up about this girl that came in looking for some parts. He asked her what she needed them for and she told him she was rebuilding her first car. He just assumed that she was talking about her brother or something and told her as much. Apparently she laid into him about how just because she was a girl didn't mean she couldn't do the same things as guys do, and how he was a chauvinistic pig, so he asked her out and she said yes." I giggled at his description being able to clearly picture Rose as she yelled at him. I never wanted to get on her bad side.

"Well they say opposites attract." I said lightheartedly.

"Well that's good to know." He said. I looked up to see him staring down at me again, his blue eyes boring into mine.

"Whys that?" I asked, ducking my head slightly, for some reason feeling childish.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Because that means I still have a chance." At that moment the song ended and we parted. My eyes were slightly wide at what he had said. He just looked at me and smiled, then brought the hand he was still holding up slightly as he bent over and kissed it. I was still in a bit of a fog as he led me back up the stairs to the table to join the others who had just sat down. I sat there for a few minutes trying to get control of my heart that about leapt out of my chest when he bent and kissed my hand. I was brought out of my own thoughts as I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard a smooth voice in my ear.

"Bella." I looked up into Edwards smiling face and felt my heat yet again.

"How long was I out of it for?" I asked and everyone laughed.

"Only a minute Bell," Alice said, "I think we are making progress." I smiled reluctantly. Besides being a completely unbalanced klutz, I also had a tendency to let my mind wander and it usually took me several minutes to come back down to earth.

I looked at Edward. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "Did you need something?"

"I was just wondering if you would like anything to drink."

"Oh…" I paused to think.

"Shirley Temple?" he guessed.

I grinned, glad he had remembered. "Yes, thank you, Claire. That would be wonderful." He just rolled his eyes but I saw a smile peaking through as he and the guys went to fulfill our drink orders.

"So," Alice said when the hugs were out of earshot, her and Rose leaning forward with a mischievous look on both their faces. "You and Edward seem to be getting along nicely." I blushed again. That was happening a lot lately.

"He is just a friend, guys."

"Yes, I agree, he was being _very_ friendly on the dance floor." Alice said coyly.

"We were just talking." I told them.

"And what were you talking about so intently?" Rose asked.

"We were actually talking about how you and Emmett met." That got her attention.

"What did he say?" she asked excitedly. I relayed the story and told them what Edward had said about Emmett dancing around the house. She giggled at the description.

"You didn't tell me you yelled at him and called him a pig." Alice said trying poorly to act outraged. "Why did you accept if you obviously didn't have a good first impression?"

"He just looked so cute with his mouth hanging open and those big puppy dog eyes. I couldn't resist." The look on her face as she said it made us all burst out laughing. This is how the guys found us. Edward handed me my drink with extra cherries (how the heck did he know?!) and slid in next to me, resting his arm on the back of the seat behind me.

"Every time I see you, you are laughing about something." He noted. "What is it this time?" I looked at al and Rose's red faces and then sheepishly back at Edward, and understanding dawned on his face.

"You didn't," he gave me a look somewhere between astonishment, fear and amusement.

"Maybe," I said hesitantly.

"Maybe what? What did she do?" Emmett chose that moment to join in the conversation.

"Nothing," Edward said quickly, clamping his other hand over my mouth before I could say anything. This along with the look of horror on Edwards face sent us girls into gales of laughter again, and it was a while before we could breathe again.

"I'll tell you later, Em." Rose said. Edward sent her a pleading look and she grinned wickedly. "Just as long as you promise not to kill your brother afterwards." Emmett turned on his brother.

"What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything I have no idea what they are talking about." He feigned innocence. The look on Emmett's face told me he knew better.

"You just wait. I will find out and then I am gonna come after you in your sleep." He pointed accusingly at Edward.

"You will do nothing of the sort, or I will never talk to you again," Rose scolded. The look on her face let us all know she meant it.

"What?!" Emmett exclaimed. She gave him a look and he relented. "Ok, fine." Edward breathed and exaggerated sigh of relief and everyone but Emmett laughed.

The rest of the night was spent in good fun, dancing and laughing with everyone. Before we all knew it the hall was closing down and it was time to go home. Edward drove and I must have been more tired than I thought, because I fell asleep somewhere between Seattle and home. One minute I am in the car and the next I am being carried somewhere. I vaguely heard a male voice in the background say "She sleeps like the dead." It took me a moment to place the voice and when I did, my eyes popped open slowly to look at Edwards clothed chest. I tried to adjust myself slightly to see my surroundings, and I felt him chuckle.

"She lives." I was to tired to care, or I would have glared at him. I closed my eyes again and barely heard Alice.

"Just lay her here and pull her covers up." I then heard her leave and felt myself being lowered onto what I assumed was my bed. When I felt my blankets being pulled up over me, I began to protest, only to be pushed gently back onto the bed. I opened my eyes again to see Edwards smiling face just inches above mine.

"Sleep tight Bells, I'll see you tomorrow," he said and then pressed a kiss to my forehead so gently I may have imagined it. The next thing I knew, he was at my door turning off the light, leaving me in complete darkness. And with that I was asleep again, before I could even hear his footsteps on the stairs.


	8. Chapter 8

EPOV

EPOV

"She's out," I told Alice as I descended the stairs. "Is she usually such a deep sleeper?"

"No she only sleeps like this when she has a lot on her mind. And believe me, her mind has been going 50 miles a minute lately."

"Whys that?"

She snorted. "As if you don't already know."

I feigned innocence. "I don't know what you are talking about. I had better get going. See you tomorrow."

"And will we see you tomorrow?" she asked with a glint in her eye.

I grinned. "Definitely." And waving goodbye got in my car. When I got home I went straight up to my room closed and locked the door, got ready for bed and turned my music on. Unlike Bella when I had a lot on my mind, it took me forever to get to sleep. I found that listening to my music helped me think things through, so I leaned back on my pillows and closed my eyes to the sound of Debussy.

What had gotten into me lately? I was acting like a love struck teenager. Bella had somehow touched something inside of me that I hadn't known was there in the first place. I have only known her for not even a week, and yet her I am wide awake at 3 o'clock in the morning, trying to find different ways to see her again. To make her smile, hear her laugh. She consumed my thoughts for the past several days and I can't seem to stop it. She never did what I expected. I smiled to myself. Tomorrow was sure to be fun. I had no idea how, but I would figure out someway to spend the day with her. And then it hit me. I would have to call Alice super early in the morning but I had a plan.

The next morning I called over, hoping Bella wouldn't be up yet. It rang 3 times, and a slightly groggy voice came on the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey Alice, it's Edward."

"Getting an early start are we. Bella isn't awake yet, but I can tell her you called."

"I actually called to talk to you."

"Oh? And what would you want to talk to little ole me for?"

"I need you to do me a favor. Can you get Bella out of the house for a couple of hours?"

"Sure. What's the occasion?"

"I want to do something special for Bella that's all."

She laughed. "Ok, we will be out by 11 for at least 6 hours. Make sure it is good though, because Bella hates shopping."

"Don't worry." I said smiling. "Oh I am gonna need the keys to your house. I don't want to leave it unlocked if I leave."

"I'll put it under the doormat. See you tonight around 5."

"Thanks Alice."

She laughed again. "Anytime." And we hung up. The next call I had to make was to Emmett. He answered on the first ring.

"Hey lil bro, what's up?"

How long is it gonna take to finish up Bella's truck?"

"I just got it done. I was gonna call her when you rang."

Don't bother. I will be over to pick it up around 12. think you could install a new CD player in it before then?"

"Of course. Can I ask why?"

"I'll explain later. Can I leave my car at your shop for the day and have you bring it to me later?" I verified.

"Unless I suddenly get swamped by like 10 cars, I'm sure it will be fine."

"Alright thanks Em. I'll see you in a few hours." And with that my plan was set in motion.

BPOV

"Bella, get out of bed this instant and get ready. We are going shopping!" Al came shouting through my doorway. I tried to ignore her, but well, Alice is pretty hard to ignore. "And why do you insist on sleeping with that wretched bear. One of these days I am going to throw him in the garbage!" I sat straight up.

"You do and I will burn every single piece of clothing you own, with you tied to a chair watching." She grinned.

"Good you are awake. Now get up. We are leaving for the mall by 11 whether you are ready or not." I knew she was serious, so I grudgingly pulled myself out of bed. It was 10 so I took a quick shower and dressed, giving myself plenty of time for some breakfast. We were on the road by 10:45. We got to the mall in record time and Al began the torture. For the next 6 hours, she subjected me to what should be termed as "Cruel and unusual punishment." I tried on dozens of outfits and shoes and by the time we were done, I was laden down with bags of stuff that I will probably only wear once. How Alice could afford such an expensive hobby was beyond me. We were about a block from the house when Al suddenly slammed on the breaks. Rose came out of nowhere, jumped in and slammed the door, then proceeded to blindfold me.

"What the…" I began but Rose cut me off with a hand over my mouth.

"No complaining Bella, you will thank us for this one day, I promise." I felt the car stop, and then I was hauled out and up to my room. I was shoved onto the bed as I heard the door slam and then the blindfold was ripped off. Rose was standing in front of me with a huge grin while Al was rummaging through the bags of clothes she just hauled in from the car.

"Got it," she cried in delight as she pulled out the cobalt blue off the shoulder sweater and jeans that we bought today. "Ok Bella put this on. She threw the outfit at me. "Rose find some shoes to go with tat outfit. I'll do her hair. On second thought, forget the shoes for now, get some makeup on her. Where are those stupid curlers?" she kept rambling on.

"Ok stop!" I yelled throwing my hands into the air. "What had gotten into you two?"

"We are sworn to secrecy so don't even think about trying to get it out of us." Al smirked.

"What if I refuse to go along with it?" I challenged.

"Trust me Bella, you wouldn't want to do that." Rose told me as she started attacking my face with some kind of brush. They were done a few minutes later and I was pushed back down the stairs. Edward was waiting at the bottom, a huge grin on his face. Now I was really suspicious.

"Hi," he greeted holding out his arm.

"Hi. Am I allowed to know what is going on yet?" I asked, taking his arm.

He chuckled. "I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to dinner tonight."

"Of course. Where are we going?"

"That is a surprise." He stated simply.

"Hmf." I said frustrated. I hated surprises. We got to the door and he handed me the keys.

"You are gonna let me drive the Volvo?" I asked, incredulously.

He smiled. "No, you are gonna drive your truck." And with that he opened the door. There in the driveway was my truck, freshly cleaned and apparently waxed, if the way it was shining was any indication. I walked over and ran a hand over it. It would never look as good as it could but at least it looked better than before. I opened the driver side door and my jaw dropped. Inside was a brand new CD player all hooked up and ready to go. I turned around to see Edward smiling.

"I figured you could at least have some decent music on your long car rides, since this beast doesn't do over 50."

I couldn't help but smile. He was so thoughtful and caring in the silliest ways.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going since I am driving?" I could honestly care less just as long as he was with me.

"Nope. You will just have to wait and see when we get there." He said with a smile. We got in the truck. I noticed that even though it still roared like a fog horn when I started it, it was quieter than usual. I grinned and looked at Edward.

"Where to?" And we were off. He gave me directions and I realized after a bit that we were headed back to his house. I hadn't really paid attention to where we were last time. I had been a little…distracted. My heart began to pound as my nerves started to kick in. almost as if he could hear it, he reached over and gently squeezed my hand.

"Don't worry, my parents are out on a date. We have the house to ourselves for a while." He got out and opened the garage using the keypad. As we got out of the car and walked in, I couldn't help but steal a glance at his beautiful mustang. He chuckled.

"You really like that car, don't you?" I blushed at being caught out and nodded. "Maybe I will take you out for a spin sometime." I grinned from ear to ear, almost jumping in excitement.

"Really?!"

"Of course." He said as he led me from the garage into the house. The first room I saw was the kitchen which was absolutely huge compared to what I was used to. The sink and dishwasher lined one wall, centered in a huge marble countertop. The refrigerator and oven were on the other wall, and there was a huge island in the middle. I looked over to see Edward smiling again.

"Would you like a tour of the rest of the house?" I started to say "Yes" but I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and my stomach growled at that moment. His smile widened. "Maybe later." He said and pulled me with him into the dining room. The lights were turned down low and there were a dozen or so candles lit about the room. In the middle was a table set for 2 with a red table cloth, place settings, and napkins. He led me over to one side of the table and pulled my chair out for me.

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome." He walked around the table and sat down across from me. "Ready for this?"

"Ready for what?"

"You'll see. Waiter." He called loudly.

"You hired a waiter. What is wrong with you?!" I scolded him. My question was answered a moment later when Emmett came in wearing black pants a white shirt rolled up to the elbows and a small white apron tied around his waist. I took one look at him and laughed, but he was not gonna break character.

"What can I get for you to drink this evening?"

"I will have a Coke please. Bella?" Edward looked at me.

"Make that 2 Cokes please. No ice in one." I replied.

"Coming right up." Emmett said and left the room he came back a moment later with our drinks.

"Have you decided what you will be eating this evening?"

"We will each be having the special tonight."

"Excellent." Emmett replied

"And what is the special?" I asked as he left the room.

"That is a surprise." Great, another surprise. Emmett walked in a moment later carrying 2 plates.

"Is there anything else I can get for you tonight?" he asked as he set a plate in front of each of us.

"That will be all for now. Thank you." Edward replied back. Emmett nodded his head slightly and left the room. I finally looked down at my plate and it all looked delicious. There was steak that had been marinated or glazed in some kind of sauce that made it look at smell absolutely mouthwatering. There was bread that you could dip in balsamic vinegar and oil (gross sounding as it is, it tastes wonderful). There was also a small side of Caesar salad. It all looked amazing and I wanted to dig right in, but I decided to be a little mean.

"Edward everything looks wonderful…" I hesitated pretending to be upset.

"But?" he prompted.

"Its just that, well, I am a vegetarian and I am allergic to wheat." His eyes narrowed slightly, but the smirk crossing his face told me he knew better.

"As a matter of fact, you aren't. I have personally seen you devour a BBQ burger which has both bread and ground beef, so eat up Bella."

I grinned at being found out. "Dang. I was hoping you wouldn't remember."

"Unfortunately my mind is a trap."

"And apparently you can read them too." I added.

He laughed and shrugged. "Most people are easy to read. Except you. You never do what I expect. It is fascinating."

I rolled my eyes. "I am glad I can be your own personal entertainment," I said sarcastically. He laughed again.

"That is not what I meant and you know it." He pointed the fork he was still holding at me.

"So what was all this for?" I asked, gesturing at the table. Not that I was complaining. I got a wonderful meal and got to spend time with Edward without everyone else there. At my question though, his face turned serious.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you is all." He said but I could tell there was something else.

"Why?"

"Because I like you. I like being around you. You are fun and beautiful. And…Bella, would you be my girlfriend."


	9. Chapter 9

EPOV

EPOV

I can't believe I just blurted that out. What was I thinking! I was going to be tactful and not overwhelm her and here I blew it. I couldn't look away from her as the silence grew longer, her face showing nothing.

"Bella would you please say something?" I said when I couldn't bear it anymore. She looked back at me and the biggest smile I have ever seen crossed her face. She stood up and threw her arms around my neck taking me by surprise. I hugged her back.

"I take it that is a yes." I chuckled. She pulled away still smiling and punched my arm.

"Duh." She said and we both laughed. We finished our dinner on that light note.

"So what's next? She asked cheerfully after dinner.

"That is up to you. I was thinking we could maybe watch a movie or go for a walk or something."

"Hmm. I think we should go see a movie." She replied enthusiastically.

"And what movie did you have in mind exactly?"

"I don't know yet. Lets go check show times." Unfortunately there was nothing playing that we wanted to see so we settled on renting a movie instead.

"We should watch an old movie."

"What kind of old movie?"

"I don't know. It should be a western though." I made a face. "What's wrong with westerns?" she asked her hands on her hips.

"Nothing I'm just not a big fan." I replied.

"Well we are just gonna have to change that now aren't we. Come on!" and with that she grabbed my hand and drug me over to the western section. "I've got it!" she exclaimed and held up _The Magnificent Seven_. "And its got Steve McQueen in it. You know you want to." She said, wiggling it in front of my face. I sighed.

"Alright fine. Where are we gonna watch it at?"

"Isn't your car at my house?" she asked.

"So it is. I guess what means your house." We checked out and headed over. Bella popped popcorn and drown it in butter. I could already feel my arteries clogging. She came over and sat on the couch, tucked her legs under her and covered up with a blanket.

"Want some?" she offered me the popcorn.

"No thanks. I'd rather not die of a heart attack at 21." She just laughed and took it back.

"I have been eating popcorn like this for years and I'm not dead yet."

"Well that can only mean one thing."

"And what is that?"

"You are some kind of immortal alien being that wants to take over the world by consuming everyone's butter supply and making them eat margarine." She laughed, raising her hands in mock surrender.

"You caught me. How ever did you figure it out?"

"Well for one thing you are devouring that bowl of popcorn at an insane rate. And two," I looked at her seriously, "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life." I watched as she blushed, ducking her head to the side which caused her hair to fall across her face. I reached over and gently took her chin in my hand, forcing her to look at me.

"Bella what's wrong?" she smiled but tears started forming in her eyes.

"No one has ever said anything like that to me before. Not even my parents." A tear had escaped out the corner of her eye and rolled down her face. I wiped it away and smiled at her.

"They didn't see you the way I do." I pulled her close wrapping my arms around her and placed a kiss to her forehead. "No more crying sweetheart, I will never let anyone hurt you. I promise." She smiled up at me and then sat up and swiped her face for tears.

"Ready for the movie?" she asked on a lighter note. I gave her an exaggerated sigh.

"If we must." She laughed again and hit play.

BPOV

This was one of my most favorite westerns ever (I even bought the ring tone for my phone). My dad and I used to watch Saturday morning westerns on AMC and this was one of the first ones I ever remember seeing. After my dad ran off, it was all I would watch for the longest time. I hadn't seen it in years now though because I was so busy. It started and I snuggled in closer to Edward. As it went along, Edward would ask me questions about what was going on. I honestly didn't think it was that hard to follow but then again I had seen it like 50 thousand times. I knew I was going to start crying again a last fight scene and I tried to hold it in but a few tears escaped. I ducked my head slightly and my hair covered my face but Edward noticed.

"Why are you crying Bella?"

"I'm not."

"Bella your nose is red and your eyes are puffy."

"I just don't see why they had to kill everyone. It's sad."

"Bella they didn't kill everyone. 3 survived. And it's just a movie." I crossed my arms stubbornly.

"It's still sad."

"I agree dying sucks."

"And how would you know?"

"I don't. I'm just assuming that not existing anymore and being buried 6 feet in the ground has got to totally blow."

"You are probably right. So what are we gonna do now?" I didn't want this night to end. I just knew that it was all a dream, and that if he left I would wake up to find it hadn't been real.

"As much as I don't want this night to tend, we both have to work tomorrow and its already after 12." I sighed.

"I know. I guess I should walk you to the door and say goodnight." We started that way and when we got to the front porch he paused and turned to me.

"Will you send me a text message when you get home please?" I didn't want to sound like a worrywart but the roads were wet and it was a good drive back to his house.

"Of course. I will see you tomorrow." And like he had before, he bent and kissed my hand and smiled. "Goodnight Bella." I watched him pull away and then shut and locked the door, and going through the house turned off all lights and headed up to my bedroom. I remember Al saying something about staying at Rose's tonight so I didn't worry about being quiet. I knew I would have to get up extra early to get back to the farm, but I didn't want to drive out there this late and risk waking everyone up. I put my pajamas on brushed my teeth and crawled into bed, curling around Baldy. A moment later my phone vibrated and _Indiana Jones_ started playing. I had a text message. Thank goodness.

"I'm home."

I smiled. "Thanks for humoring me."

"Anything to keep you from worrying. What time do you get up to work in the mornings?"

"I try to have the animals fed by 8 then I head in for breakfast. Why?"

"Just wondering. I'll talk to you later Bells. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight, Edward."


	10. Chapter 10 part 1

EPOV

EPOV

"I'm home." I texted her when I got in my house.

"Thanks for humoring me."

I smiled. "Anything to keep you from worrying. What time do you get up to work in the mornings?"

"I try to have the animals fed by 8 then I head in for breakfast. Why?" I knew she would get angry at me if I told her want I was planning to do and would try and talk me out of it but on the other hand I knew that she would get angry if I didn't tell her and just surprised her. She obviously didn't like surprises. I opted to keep it to myself.

"Just wondering. I'll talk to you later Bells. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight, Edward." That was her last text for the night. I went to sleep and dreamed of her beautiful face. The next morning I made sure I was up bright and early. I had only driven to the farm once, but I remember it clearly. I wanted to get there before Bella was outside so that I didn't have to try and go look for her and risk scaring her. That would just add to the anger that she would probably already be feeling. I got dressed in some of my hiking clothes then went downstairs to grab a quick breakfast, then headed out. I debated on whether to take the Volvo or the truck, and decided on the truck. A Volvo would just look out of place in the driveway of a farm. The drive was longer than I remember it being but that is probably because I was alone and didn't have anyone to talk to this time. I got to the farm and just parked outside and waited for some movement in the house, thankful that I had a quiet truck. I didn't have to wait long. About 10 minutes later, a slightly disheveled Bella came stumbling out of the house and onto the deck. I knew the minute she saw my truck she would stomp over and demand what I was doing here so early, but she surprised me. I watched her while she took a second to realize that there was another vehicle in the driveway and when she saw me, her face split in a wide grin and she jogged over to the driver's side waving vigorously. I got out of the truck and shut the door as she came to a halt in front of me, giving me a hug and kissing my cheek.

"What are you doing her so early? "I thought you said you had to go to work?" I could tell that she was surprised but happy to see me.

"I said I had to work I didn't say where. I just figured that since you had to get up early this morning and since it was me that kept you up late last night the least I could do was come over and help you with your chores."

"Do you even know what I do around the farm?" she asked, apparently skeptical that I would be able or willing to do something like that.

"No, but I am a fast learner, and I am sure you are an excellent teacher." I said. She grinned.

"Follow me." I soon realized just how much she loved her job. I have never seen anyone that would willing get in a pen full of pigs, and then pet each one of them before going onto the next pen of animals. She was born to do this job. I helped her as much as I could but it was clear that she was used to doing it on her own. She didn't put up a fuss like I thought she would though. We talked and laughed about totally random things, and it was probably pretty clear to anyone that was watching us that neither one of us got a lot of sleep. We got to the horses and I could see Bella light up. She walked over to one of the stalls and patted the horse's nose, pulling something out of her pocket and feeding it to him. She looked over at me and smiled.

"This one here is Sir Prize. His mother is the one in the stall behind you. Her name is Princess. The ones that Barb was talking about the other day are in the last few stalls. This one here is Lightning because if the white fur on his nose that looks like a lightning bolt. The in the stall next to him is Tornado because, well he is a bit unpredictable kinda like a tornado, and this one here is Storm."

"Why Storm?" I asked.

"The owners daughter was kinda going through a _X-Men_ phase when they bought her." She laughed.

"I see." I commented absently. "I was always a bit partial to Rogue. I just kind of felt sorry for her because she wasn't ever able to get close to anyone without having to worry about hurting them or not. Cyclops was by far my most favorite male character though."

"What? Not Wolverine?"

"Nah, everyone always thought he was the coolest, but, I dunno, he was just always to unpredictable and crazy. Cyclops always keeps his head and doesn't do anything irrational. Wolverine just kinda does what wants and doesn't really think about the ramifications of it." We were heading back to the house as we were talking and when we opened the door, I could smell the beginnings of breakfast.

"I should probably get going. I don't want to impose on your breakfast."

"Don't be ridiculous Edward, you are staying for breakfast." She said as she dragged me towards what I assumed was the kitchen.

"Are you sure? I didn't exactly give you very much notice."

"Of course. Angela will be thrilled to see you and you have yet to meet her parents. It will be fun." At that moment we rounded the corner into the kitchen where Angela was slaving away over the stove. She turned around when she heard us come in and grinned.

"Edward, it's good to see you again. How are you doing?"

"I am doing good. Just thought I would come over this morning and surprise my girlfriend." I said as I slipped my arm around Bella's waist. Angela squealed and ran over to encompass both of us in a huge hug, which was impressive coming from her small probably 5 ft 2 in. frame.

"Oh my gosh! Bella why didn't you tell me? When did this happen? Give me all of the details." She was more excited than Bella had been. I smiled. At the moment, a man and woman probably in their forties, walked in the room.

"Angela what on earth is with all of the screaming?" the woman asked. Angela looked over at Bella, obviously wanting to spill the beans. Bella blushed and turned towards the woman and man.

"Edward, this is Walt and Linda, Angela's parents. Walt Linda, this is Edward Cullen, my boyfriend." Linda came over and I offered my hand.

"It's nice to meet you." I said shaking Linda's hand and then turning to shake hands with Walt. "Sir."

"So this is the young man that you two girls couldn't stop talking about the other day." He gave me a once over, and I got the impression that in Bella's case, Walt was about as close to father as she had ever come. I glanced over at Bella to see her blush deepen as she nodded slightly.

"Now Walt, stop embarrassing Bella. Edward, I hope you will stay for breakfast. Angela always fixes more than enough to feed an entire army."

"I don't wish to impose. I came a bit unexpected this morning and I will understand if its not the best time." I said, wanting to make sure that it was ok. Apparently it was.

"Now don't be silly, sit right down and dig in." The breakfast was simply but filling with scrambled eggs and fried ham, toast orange juice and pancakes.

"Angela, breakfast was wonderful. Thank you." I told her as we finished. Bella started gathering dishes and I got up to help her.

"Edward sit down you are a guest." Bella tried to push me back into my chair but I would have nothing of it.

"I want to help you, and you cant do anything to make me not." I told her. She just turned around and led the way back into the kitchen from the dining room.

"They like you. Don't worry." She said offhand as we soaped up the dishes and began to wash and dry.

"Why do you say that?"

"Walt and Linda are the closest I have ever gotten to having a mother and father. I could tell that you were nervous when they walked in the room."

"I get the impression that Walt doesn't like me." He hadn't done anything that made me uncomfortable, he just seemed a bit quite at breakfast and each time I caught his eye I nodded slightly in respect.

"Walt can be a bit over protective when it comes to me and Ang, but he means well. He will come around. Just give him time." We finished up the dishes in a timely manner and as we headed in to join the other in the living room, I grabbed her hand. Everyone was getting ready for the day. I had planned on spending the entire day out with Bella, but I guess I should ask her if that was ok first.

I pulled her to a stop and she turned around and looked at me questioningly.

"Is it ok if I spend the day out here? I don't want to be in the way but I kinda want to see how things work around here." She looked at me for a moment and grinned wickedly.

"That would be wonderful Edward." I began to think that I was gonna regret asking her that question.

"And what are we going to be doing today?" I asked warily.

"Well, I have to say that your timing is absolutely wonderful. At least for me. I was gonna muck out the horse stalls and the other animals pens today. This should be fun." Crap. What had I gotten myself into? We went back out to the barn and she handed me a pair of knee high boots.

"These are Walt's. They should fit relatively well." Once I got the boots on, she dragged me around to grab a wheel barrel and some shovels.

"Once the wheel barrel gets full, we will take it out in the field and spread it around for fertilizer."

"You do this voluntarily?" I asked her as we began to shovel.

"Some parts of the job aren't very glamorous, but I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"It takes a special person to be able to stomp around and shovel horse crap." I said with a laugh. It actually wasn't that bad, just a bit smelly.

It only took us a couple of hours to clean out all the stalls and pens and we only had one small accident when one of the bigger pigs bumped into Bella causing her to fall into me, knocking us both into the mud and muck of the pig pen. We both began to laugh hysterically. Linda wouldn't let us back into the house and made us hose off in the yard which made it that much funnier, and brought us some clothes that we could change into.

"Are you going to be staying for dinner Edward?" Linda asked after we had sat down in the living room with some coffee.

"I would love to. What are we having?"

"That is something you are going to have to ask Bella. She is the one that makes dinner around her." Angela said. "Well except for last night that is." She grinned towards Bella who grinned back, only turning a little pink. I looked at her as well.

"So what are we having?"

"It is a special recipe that my dad used to make all the time. It's called Longhorn Lemon Beef steak. Its not that hard to prepare it just takes forever to cook."

"Would you like some help?" I asked, wanting to be around her as much as possible. She gave me that grin again that told me I would regret asking.

"Sure. You can cut the lemons and onions and prepare the sauce while I get the steak ready. We should get started soon so that it is ready by 6." We headed into the kitchen and I immediately understood when we started fixing everything. Bella put the steak in a pan and then turned and looked at me smiling again.

"Done." She said, smiling.

"Cheater." I replied as I had tears streaming down my eyes from the onions. She laughed.

"You are the one that offered to help. I just took advantage of it." I finished up the onions then, my eyes still watering like crazy.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Just pour the sauce over the meat evenly, lay the onions and lemons on top and stick it in the oven for 2 hours." I got everything done and in the oven and turned to Bella. She reached over and wiped some of the tears that were still running down my face and laughed.

"Now we wait."


	11. Chapter 10 part 2

BPOV

BPOV

I hadn't made this recipe in years. My dad taught it to me when I was barely old enough to look over the counter. Alice didn't like me to make it because it was dads favorite and she doesn't like to be reminded that we weren't good enough for him. This was the first time in probably 5 years I made it. For some reason I wanted to share it with Edward. Dinner was ready about 615 and we all sat down to eat. Besides the beef steak, we had salad, bread, and cheese quesadillas that we fried up on the grill. They just taste better that way then when you nuke them in the microwave for a couple seconds.

"This is absolutely wonderful Bella, why did you ever hide this from us." Linda teased.

"She's right Bella, this is amazing." Edward agreed.

"Thank my dad. He's the one that taught it to me." I replied. Walt and Linda offered to do the dishes and I lead Edward back outside to the barn.

"What are we doing out here. I thought we were done with the chores." He asked, curious.

"After dinner I like to take Sir Prize out riding for an hour or so. It help relax me before I go to bed." She replied somewhat timidly.

"So, why did you bring me out here?" She looked at me.

"I just figured that you could come with me tonight." He stopped dead in his tracks, and since he was holding my hand, I was pulled to a stop with him. I looked up to see his face had paled slightly.

"Edward, what's wrong?"

"Bella, I have never even seen a horse in real life much less ridden one. I think I will just watch."

"Its not that hard Edward. I will get them saddled and everything."

"Bella, I don't know if I want to do this."

"Edward," I looked at him sincerely. "Do you really think I would let a horse hurt you? You will be riding Princess and trust me when I say that a meteor could hit the ground 10 ft away from her and she wouldn't even flinch." He didn't look convinced. "Please. For me?" I gave him my best pouty face and he caved.

"Alright. But if I die you will be the first person I am going to haunt." I laughed.

"You aren't going to die." I drug him into the barn and went into the stalls to get Sir Prize and Princess saddled up. We were ready to go in about 15 minutes. I let Sir Prize out and tied his reins around one of the fence posts and brought Princess over to where Edward was standing. He looked nervous but didn't budge.

"Ok right now I just want you to let her smell you a bit." He threw me a disbelieving look. I laughed again. "I know it sounds weird, but if she gets used to your scent, she is less likely to buck you off and more likely to do as you want her to."

"Well that is reassuring," he remarked sarcastically, but walked over slowly and raised his hand to her nose. She sniffed his hand and stepped closer to nudge his chest with her nose, getting used to him. He got a little more comfortable after a bit and started rubbing her neck with one hand because she was still sniffing the other.

"See, its not so bad now is it." I said coming to stand next to hi, and nudging him with my shoulder.

"Now what?" he asked slightly more relaxed than before.

"Now I want you to come over here and mount up. Its not as hard as it sounds you just need to put your left foot in the stirrup and pull yourself up using the horn on the saddle."

"Ok." He still sounded a little unsure but came over to stand beside Princess.

"Now, you need to remember that you always, _always_ mount from the left side."

"Am I gonna be doing this a lot?" he asked. I chuckled slightly.

"If you are going to be dating me, you are definitely going to be riding horses a lot. Oh, and before I forget," I pulled the cowboy hat that I had been hiding out from behind my back and set it on his head. "You have to look the part." His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me, but the full blown smile on his face told me he didn't mind that much. He did as I instructed, and mounted up with ease. I handed him the reins and then walked over to Sir Prize, gathered the reins and mounted up myself. I looked over at Edward to see him still smiling.

"I think I can honestly say I never thought I would ever be sitting on top of a horse wearing a cowboy hat." This made me laugh yet again. He looked absolutely adorable in the cowboy shirt that Linda gave him to wear, and the hat just added to the affect. He actually looked like he belonged on a farm.

"Ready to head out?" I needed something to distract me from how much I wanted to kiss him right now. Besides, it would be a little awkward seeing as we were sitting on separate horses.

"I think so. Just as long as we walk. I don't think I am up for testing how fast she can run right now."

"We won't run tonight. The ground will be to uneven and soft from yesterdays rain."

"Good now I have a decent excuse to tell Emmett when he tries to make fun of me for being scared to ride a horse."

We headed out and I gave him instructions as he needed them. He caught on rather fast and before we knew it, it was time to head back in. there was still plenty of light but I wanted to brush them a bit before I put them away for the night. I showed Edward how to take off Princess' saddle and blankets and he grabbed some of the brushes and started grooming her. We settled them into their stalls and headed back to the house. It was only 9 so we decided to settle in and watch a movie. I fell asleep about half way through and woke up to Edward whispering in my ear, his fingers running absently through my hair, which wasn't helping me wake up any.

"Bella, sweetheart you need to get to bed. Come on."

"No, I'll be ok long enough to walk you out to your truck."

"You aren't walking me to my truck Bella, you can barely stand." He sounded amused.

"Don't be absurd. I can walk just fine." I tried to stand up and staggered. Edward caught me and set me on my feet. I steadied myself, but he didn't let go. I looked up to see him staring at me and I couldn't look away either.

"You are so beautiful, Bella." He said, and then leaned down and gently kissed my lips. He pulled away all too soon to look at me again, and neither one of us could stop our smiles. I put my arms around his neck and pulled him back into another kiss. I knew that I had to get to bed and he needed to leave, but I didn't want this to end. I felt him pull away slightly and rest his forehead against mine and sighed.

"Bella, you need some sleep. We can't keep staying up this late." He chuckled to himself.

"I know." I looked up at him and sighed. "I don't think I can make it to the door. Do you mind terribly if I don't walk you out." He his shoulders began to shake.

"Bella you need to stop taking care of others and start taking care of yourself more." He yawned and ran his fingers through his hair. "I need to get going, the drive home for me is longer than it is for you." He let go of me and started towards the door and then turned around and grabbed me to kiss me again.

"Night Bells." He said, then turned and walked out the door, closing it silently behind him.

I slept like a log that night, and the next morning woke up early and rearing to go. I went through my morning chores faster than usual, and decided to drive out to the lake to run the trail. I had slacked a bit in the last few months, but this morning I was just in the mood for a good long run. I poked my head in the kitchen knowing I would find Ang working on breakfast.

"Hey Ang, I'm gonna go for a run at the lake. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Alright, I will put something in the fridge for you." I grabbed my mp3 player and headed out. The trail was about 3 miles long and at a good pace I could do it in about an hour. I made sure to grab a water bottle so I didn't have to stop at the public fountains along the trail. It was just gross to think about all the people that had drank from it. I started out and immediately began to regret not running for a month. The familiar burn began to work its way up my legs and my lungs felt on fire. Strangely enough, it was feeling I missed. I had my mp3 player on shuffle and then next song that started playing was _Long Train Running_ by the Doobie Brothers. I mouthed the words along with the song, seeing as it was a little difficult to sing while you were running. I was about to the second mile marker when I felt like someone was watching me. I slowed down slightly and looked behind me. Sure enough, there was a man running a little ways behind me keeping a steady pace. I mentally shook myself and continued jogging. Tons of people ran this trail everyday, I'm sure its nothing. I was now on the part of the trail where it was mostly woods.

The lake could be seen but the trail had started on an incline so it was a bit of a ways down. My legs were starting to ache and I decided to rest against the nearest tree. The man kept running on past me, and after I caught my breath a bit, I started out again. I had only been running for about 15 minutes or so when I rounded a corner and saw the man that had been following me sitting on the ground clutching his ankle. I came up on him and stopped.

"Sir are you ok?" I asked. He was rocking slightly and groaning.

"I don't know. I think I must have tripped over a rock or something. One minute I was running and the next I had face planted into the ground." He had a few scratches on his face and his knees where slightly torn and bloody."

"Can you tell me what hurts." I was glad I took that CPR course at the college.

"It's my ankle. I can barely move it." I crouched down in front of him to get a closer look at it, when he reached over and grabbed my hair. I looked up to see his evil smile as he tried to drag me in to the bushes. I tried to struggle but I didn't get anywhere whit the angle that I was at. I slipped on a mossy rock and fell down causing my hair to be ripped out of his hand. I stood up fast as he tried to advance towards me. I will always be grateful Alice made me take that kick boxing class. I kicked him hard in the side and then caught him in the jaw with a left hook that knocked him on the ground. I turned and started to run back towards the trail, but the ground was uneven and I tripped on what must have been a tree root. I tumbled and rolled down the slight hill, and at one point I hit the ground and felt my leg snap. I tried to scream but I couldn't get out a sound. I rolled on to the trail and came to a halt as my head bashed into the ground, only to see that the man was coming out of the bushes and towards me again. I tried to scream again but he covered my mouth and punched me in the ribs, stealing the rest of my breath. My vision started to blur when I heard someone shout from somewhere down the trail. The man stood back up and glared down at me, then kicked me hard in the side again and ran off. The last thing I remember was a blurry face appearing in front of me when everything went black.


	12. Chapter 11 part 1

EPOV

EPOV

I woke up groggily the next morning, rolling on my side and pulling the pillow over my head to block the light coming through my window. Mom must have opened the blinds earlier this morning. It took me a second to register this fact. Mom only opened the blinds to my windows if I was still asleep when she went to work. I looked at the clock and I was shocked to see that it was almost 11. I usually got up before 8. I must have been really tired from last night. A smile crossed my face as I remembered last night. I had gotten home really late but it was worth a lack of sleep to be able to spend time with Bella. She was so wonderful and beautiful and so easy to talk to, I felt as if I had known her my whole life, when in reality it was only a little over a week. Maybe we were rushing things. I never in my life thought that I would start dating a girl after only knowing her for a week. But with Bella it was different. It was like she was made just for me.

I thought about calling her, but I seriously needed a shower so I opted for that first. After a nice shower, I got dressed and headed down to scrounge something up for breakfast and saw a note on the counter.

_Edward,_

_Since you aren't gonna be up before I leave, there are some pancakes in the oven for you to toast and the bacon in the fridge is fresh. Have a good day sweetie._

_Mom_

I love her. Even if she seems to like taking care of me a little too much, it was nice to know that she cared at all. Carlisle came home with stories from the hospital about children who were picked up off the streets starved or beaten, and I knew that I had a wonderful set of parents.

I figured it was safe to call Bella now because I knew she had to get up early to take care of the animals. I dialed her number and laughed as I listened to her call tone. The theme song from _The Magnificent Seven_. She really loved that movie. Suddenly it cut off.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Bells. It's…" I got cut off.

"Hello?"

"Bella," I tried again. "Bella, its Edw…"

"Gotcha! This is Bella and I can't get to my phone so leave me a message!" I laughed again. I really hated that outgoing message.

"You know, I really don't like that message of yours, it throws me off every time. But I guess that was the point, huh?" I laughed to myself. "Well, it's just before 12, so give me a call when you get a chance. See you later."

I decided to sit down and watch TV while I waited for Bella's call. I flipped around for about an hour and couldn't find anything so I figured I would pop a movie in but nothing really caught my eye. I finally gave up and went out to the garage. I could always find something to do there, whether it be waxing the mustang or tuning up one of the bikes. I spent the next hour dinking around in there and didn't get one thing done. What was wrong with me? I used to love doing this kind of stuff but I couldn't focus on anything. For some reason, something was nagging at me, telling me that I needed to call Bella.

I waited a few more minutes, but when the feeling didn't go away, I pulled out my phone and dialed Bella again. This time it went straight to voicemail.

"Hey Bells, it's me again, just wondering what your plans are for tonight. Call me back." I didn't want to come across as one of those over protective boyfriends that you see in the movies or on those stupid soap operas (**no offense to anyone who does like them. I used to watch them too**) but something just wasn't right. When the clock struck 6, I gave up dialed and waited. Again it went to voicemail. This time I didn't leave a message, I hung up and called Alice. Her phone went straight to voicemail too. Something was not right. I called Emmett at the shop.

"Hey Eddie 3 times in one week, I'm beginning to think that you might actually like me." I chuckled slightly but got right to the point.

"Em something isn't right. I called Bella 3 times and she isn't answering her phone and neither is Alice. And before you say that I am being an overprotective worrywart, just hear me out ok. I just want you to call Rose and ask her what's going on. Something is wrong." I knew I probably sounded like a lunatic but I didn't care.

"How do you figure?" he sounded confused.

"I don't know. I know its sounds crazy Em, but something isn't right. I can feel it. Can you please just call Rose?" I was getting anxious now.

"Alright alright, I call her. Don't get your boxers in a bunch. Give me a few minutes and I'll call you back."

"Thanks Em." I hung up the phone and waited for it to ring again. it seemed like an eternity but Emmett called back a few minutes later.

"Edward." He paused, and there was something in his voice that sent warning bells off in my head.

"What happened Emmett? Tell me!"

"Edward, Bella's in the hospital. She was attacked on her morning run around the lake trail."

"How bad is she?" something told me it wasn't just a sprain.

"She's in critical condition. Her collar bone is broken as well as her leg and a couple of ribs. The doctors said she also has a major concussion."

"Where is she?"

"They took her to United General." I was off the couch in a millisecond heading for my keys.

"Thanks Emmett."

"Edward, man I am sorry. If there is anything I can do."

"That's alright Em. Thanks again." I hit the road and seeing as I was doing over 90 on the freeway, I made it to the hospital in record time. I parked as soon as I could find a spot and sprinted into the lobby. The woman behind the desk looked at me in surprise.

"I am here to see my girlfriend, Bella Swan."

"Miss Swan is in room 3202 on the third floor."

"Thank you." I told her as I hit the elevator. I shot out on the third floor and turned to ask the receptionist at the desk where 3202 was, but I saw Alice come around the corner. I could see she had been crying, and when she saw me she burst into tears all over again. I walked over and hugged her, acting much calmer than I felt. My insides were boiling with anger and hate towards the monster that did this to her, and concern for Bella. Once Alice had composed herself enough, she pulled away and blew her nose.

"How is she?" I wanted to know.

"They just got her settled in her room."

"Can I go see her?"

"Yeah, but she hasn't woken up yet."

"Thanks Alice. Maybe you should head home. You look like you could use some rest." She smiled a bit.

"Thanks Edward, but I wanna stick around till she wakes up."

"Well, at least get something to eat. I'll call you if she wakes up."

"Alright. But the minute she wakes up…"

"I will call you." I reassured her and nudged her towards the elevators. Once I was sure she was in, I prepared myself and walked into Bella's room. I stopped dead in my tracks. There were bruises up and down her arms that were resting above the sheets, and her face was 3 different shades of purple. I wanted to rip the head off the jerk off that did this to my Bella. I walked over to the side of the bed and sat down in the chair there.

"Bella. Bella sweetheart, can you hear me?" I gripped her hand slightly and put my head on her shoulder.

"Edward?"


	13. Chapter 11 part 2

BPOV

BPOV

I thought I was awake but I couldn't see anything. My head felt like I had been run over by a semi truck. I thought I heard someone call my name but I couldn't be sure. It was so faint. As my brain became a little clearer I opened my eyes slightly and looked around at a room that I didn't recognize. The blinds on the windows were drawn closed so the only light was that of the overhead lights on the ceiling, and they didn't offer much light. There was a TV mounted high on the wall in front of me playing some kind of low budget made for TV movie that no one ever watches. I tried to wipe the fog that was clouding my brain but I realized that my hand was being held in something soft and warm. I looked over to see Edward bent over the side of what I realized was a hospital bed. Why was I in the hospital? Then all of the sudden the memories of earlier today came flooding back to me and I gasped slightly. I looked over to see that Edward hadn't moved from his spot yet.

"Edward?" his head shot up and he looked at me, and his face held a momentary look of shock concern and anger all at once. I wondered what he was angry at but the next moment, his brilliant smile replaced all other emotions on his face and he leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" he asked in a whispered voice, leaning in close to talk to me. I shook my head slightly.

"Like I jumped out of a plane without a parachute." He laughed quietly.

"At least you still have your sense of humor. That is a good sign."

"How long have I been out?" I tried to move my other hand but realized to late that that was a mistake. I felt a pain shoot down my arm from my collar bone and groaned. I looked down to see that my arm was in a sling that was wrapped snuggly to my body.

"You've been here since about 11 this morning."

"What time is it now?" I asked. He looked down at his watch.

"A little after 9."

"9! I've been out of it for 10 hours!" I tried to get out of the bed but he pushed me back against the pillows, and took my hand back again.

"Bella, it could have been a lot worse. You are lucky you didn't have to have surgery. I think you need to take it easy for a while." He absently rubbed circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. I didn't want to lie in bed all day but it hurt to move.

"Fine then, can I at least see a mirror?" I glanced down at my arm and saw several bruises. By the way I was feeling, I knew that the rest of me probably wasn't in any better shape.

"You have bruises covering the right side of your face and a black eye." He told me.

"I still want to see a mirror." I told him in a no nonsense way.

"Alright, I will be right back." With that he left. I expected him to be back in a couple of minutes, but it was more than 10 when someone entered my room again, and then it wasn't Edward. It was Alice.

"Oh, Al. I am sorry." I told her as I saw tears start welling up in her eyes.

"Bella, what on earth are you sorry for? You didn't do anything." She came over to set in the chair that Edward had vacated.

"I should have been about to fight him off. If I had just been a little more careful with where I was going…" I could feel my own tears coming to the fore and stopped.

"Bella, you did wonderfully. None of this was your fault." She told me earnestly. I sighed.

"Did they catch the guy?"

"They have a suspect in custody. He was trying to check himself into a clinic a couple miles away with a broken nose. They said he also had a nasty bruise starting on his side. They just need you to take a look at a picture to see if you can identify him." I nodded. A yawn escaped involuntarily and Alice saw it.

"I should let you get some sleep you look exhausted."

"Al, I have been asleep since 1this morning apparently. I doubt I am going to be able to go to sleep anytime soon." I made a face and she laughed.

"Be that as it may, I have to work tomorrow. I'll drop by after I am off."

"Bye, Al." I tried to wave slightly but I could barely lift my hand with all the wires sticking out of it. I made a face as I looked down and saw the IV sticking out of my hand and heard a musical laugh from the doorway. I looked you to see Edward standing there.

"What are you still doing here?" Its not that I didn't want him to stay, but I knew that he had better things to do than to baby-sit me while I was an invalid in a hospital bed. His brow creased slightly as if he were contemplating something.

"I thought I would stay and keep you company. Do you want me to leave?" he sounded hurt.

"No! I don't want you to go, I just thought that you might have better things to do than sit around a hospital watching me sleep." I reassured him. He swiftly came over to the side of the bed and took my face gently in his hands.

"There is nothing more important to me right now than you. Than making sure you get better, and most of all, get some sleep."

"But I'm not tired." I knew that I sounded like a whiny 6 year old but I didn't care. I crossed my arms as best I could and gave him the sternest look I had. To my surprise, he laughed again.

"Bella, you look like a child he didn't the present he wanted for Christmas." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Bella, I know that you don't feel like you could sleep another minute in your life but you seriously need to get some sleep and rest. Being up and around and having visitors is not the best way to recuperate from what you have been through." I gave him another stubborn look and watched his jaw set slightly in a no nonsense way. He wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"Bella, I know how stubborn you can be and I am not going to sit here and argue with you. You need to rest." And with that he reached over and punched the call button. A nurse came in a moment later.

"Is everything alright dear?" she asked, checking my monitors.

"I think we need some more pain medication." Edward cut in, not letting me say anything. She left and came back a moment later with a syringe and stuck it in my IV. I started to protest my Edward silenced me with a kiss.

"There you go dear. It will take a few minutes for it to hit your system." And she walked out.

"Why would you do that? I can take care of myself you know." Angry tears started rolling down my cheeks unchecked.

"Bella, I know you are angry, but you with thank me someday trust me. Now get some rest." He leaned down to kiss me but I turned away slightly, so he kissed my forehead instead. I could feel the drugs start working so I didn't try to reply. As I felt myself fall into sleep, I felt him take my hand.

"I will be here when you wake up, sweetheart don't worry." And with that I was out again.

EPOV

After Bella fell asleep I sat there for a few minutes, not really thinking about anything just content to sit and look at Bella. After a bit I decided that I was hungry. I got up to head down to the cafeteria, and as I headed out the door, walked straight into someone that was coming in.

"Excuse me?' he asked. "Do you know if Miss Swan has woken up yet?"

"She just went back to sleep. I can tell her you stopped by. Can I get your name?"

"Oh, she doesn't know me. I was the one that found her at the lake and I just wanted to make sure she was alright. They wouldn't let me accompany her in the ambulance." I stuck out my hand and he grasped it in a firm shake.

"It's nice to meet you. I am Bella's boyfriend…"

"You must be Edward." He finished with a smile. "She kept mumbling your name while she was unconscious. Names Sam."

"I can't thank you enough for what you did for my Bella. I will be forever grateful."

"It was nothing. I just wish I had got my hands on the jerk that did this to her but he was long gone by the time I got there. How is she doing?" I sighed.

"She's pretty banged up. Her left collar bone is broken along with her right leg and a few ribs. She is bruised everywhere." At the thought of how much pain she was in, I felt my anger boil up again. Sam obviously picked up on that.

"I am sorry I didn't get there sooner. I probably shouldn't have yelled and alerted him that I saw him, but all I could think about was keeping whoever he was attacking safe. I had better get going, I just wanted to see how she was doing." I shook his hand again.

"Thank you again. I will tell her you stopped by. Can I get your number possibly in case she wants to call you?" I wanted Bella to have the chance to thank him herself.

"Sure." He wrote down his number on a piece of paper he got from the nurse and gave it to me. "See ya," he said, and then walked down towards the elevators. I knew that Bella would be out for a while, so I decided to call my parents and tell them were I was. Nothing was worse than coming home to my mom after you hadn't checked in with her. she had a bit of an overactive imagination and if you didn't call within 6 hours, she assumed you were broken and bleeding in a ditch and instead of calling you to see where you were, she would call the police instead as she had on more than 1 occasion. I dialed, and when she didn't pick up, I left a message.

"Hey mom it's Edward. Bella had a nasty accident and I am at the hospital with her in Seattle. There's nothing to worry about, I will check in when I find out more." There was no reason to worry her with the truth for now. My parents hadn't even met Bella yet, but I knew that my mom would feel Bella's pain as if it were her own. It was just who she was. I didn't understand how she could work at a hospital. Some nights she would come home in tears. On one occasion, she had called my dad from the side of the road because she was so upset she didn't trust herself driving.

I headed down to the cafeteria then, to see what they had for food. It wasn't much. I knew that hospital food wasn't all that good, seeing as both my parents worked at one, but most of this was left over from the lunch crowd today, and it was not even 9:30. I decided to hit one of the vending machines instead. I ended up with cheetos a snickers bar and a root beer. I headed back up to the 3rd floor lobby and sat down in one of the chairs to enjoy my "meal" when the elevator dinged and out stepped Emmett and Rosalie along with my parents. I got up and walked over to greet them.

"What are you doing here?"

"Edward how can you ask that when Bella is in the hospital?" my mom looked hurt.

"I didn't mean it like that mom." I said and gave her a hug. "But don't you all have work tomorrow?"

"I don't have to work till tomorrow night, and your mom got her shift switched." My dad replied.

"And since I own my own shop, I can close up whenever I want." Emmett replied with a grin. I laughed.

"I am glad you all stopped by but Bella just went back to sleep and wont be awake for a while."

"That's ok. We don't mind sticking around, now do we." My mom stated. We settle down and talked in the lobby. They asked me questions about what had happened and I did my best to explain everything to them. They were sorry they had missed Sam. Around 1 I went back in to check on Bella, and saw that she was just barely awake.

"Hey you." I called from the doorway and she smile with her eyes half open. I walked in a sat down. "You had a visitor earlier just after you fell asleep." She looked at me questioningly.

"Who was it?"

"His name is Sam. He was the one that found you on the trail and he wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Oh Edward, why didn't you wake me up? I want to thank him." She looked frustrated.

"I didn't wake you up because you had just fallen asleep with the help of some medication I might add. It would have been like trying to wake a log." I laughed. She started to say something else but I stopped her with a finger to her lips. "Before you say anything else, I got his phone number in case you wanted to call him and than him yourself." I pulled the piece of paper out of my pocket and handed it to her.

"Thank you Edward. I didn't mean to snap. I just don't like being cooped up in hospitals." I laughed again. At that moment there was a loud knock at the door and I turned to see Emmett poking his head in the room.

"Can we visit now?" he asked. I nodded and he left again to get the others.

"Who is 'we'?" Bella wanted to know.

"Em stopped by with Rose and my parents. They wanted to make sure you are ok." At the mention of my parents, the part of Bella's face that wasn't bruised paled. "What's the matter Bella?"

"Edward, I don't want to meet your parents like this. I am a complete wreck." She put her hand over her face and I could tell she was upset. I reached up with 2 hands one bring her hand down away from her face, and the other pulling her chin up gently so I could look her in the eye.

"Bella, they love you already and they haven't even met you yet. All they wanted to do was make sure that you were alright and show that they care about you."

"But what if they don't like me? What if they think I am all wrong for you?" I laughed lightly.

"Bella that is not possible. My parents have trusted me in every decision I have ever made and have never tried to force their opinions on me. Besides, they will fall in love with you the moment they meet you. Just like I did." I smiled wryly as she blushed.

"What are you saying Edward?" As if she didn't already know. We were interrupted at that point as everyone walked in the room. I could see that Bella wanted an answer, but I wasn't going to give her one when there were so many people around. I stood and got out of the way as Rose came over to hug her.

"How are you feeling?" I watched as Bella's face registered frustration for the slightest moment. I chuckled as I wondered how many people had asked her that.

"I'm ok. A little sore." At Rose's look, Bella rolled her eyes. "Ok, I am a lot sore. I feel like I got trampled but a herd of horses." My dad cleared his throat slightly. And I turned to make the introductions

"Bella, these are my parents Carlisle and Esme. Mom, dad this is Bella."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you dear. Edward has told us so much about you already." I smiled as my mom bent over to give Bella a hug. Bella blushed slightly.

"I am glad to finally be meeting you, I am just sorry it isn't under better circumstances." Bella replied as she shook my fathers' hand.

"Don't be ridiculous dear, I am just glad you are awake so soon after what happened. Have the doctors checked to see if there were any head injuries?" she asked and my dad laughed.

"Esme, I have personally met Bella's doctor, and I can assure you that he knows what he is doing."

"I am sure he is a great doctor, I guess I am just a little biased." She said grinned and kissed him on the cheek. It was close to 3 when everyone decided to leave. I could tell Bella was getting tired again, so I walked everyone out so she could rest. Rose stopped me before she got on the elevator.

"Oh, Edward I forgot. Alice asked me to give this to Bella." She reached into her purse and pulled out the ugliest teddy bear I had ever seen. There was hardly any hair left on his body, his eyes were chipped and he looked like his head had been sewn on more than once. I looked back up at her and she laughed.

"Don't ask me. Bella hasn't been able to part with this thing since she was 3. It used to be Al's but when Bella started pulling all his fur out, she gave it up."

"Is it sanitary?" I asked as I took it from her. She laughed again as she stepped onto the elevator and waved goodbye. I walked back to Bella's room, still eyeballing the thing in my hands and when I entered the doorway, Bella squealed.

"Baldy!" I raised an eyebrow at her then looked back at the bear again.

"Baldy, huh? Real creative, Bella." She gave me a "humph" sound and held out her hand for the bear.

"I was like 5 when I named him ok. Give me a break. " I handed him over and she hugged him close. I watched as her eyes drooped again and she yawned.

"Bella, get some more sleep. I think I am gonna crash in the chair."

"You aren't going home?" she sounded pleased.

"Nope. I'll be here till you get discharged. No go to sleep." I said sternly and she giggled. "I will see you in the morning."


	14. Chapter 12

BPOV

BPOV

_Finally_ I thought to myself. It took several days for the doctor to release me, but I was finally on my way home. Edward piled me in the Volvo carefully and we hit the road. I knew it was going to be a long drive so I settled in and got myself comfortable. What I hadn't counted on was Edward. He drove like a maniac. We probably shaved at least 45 minutes off of the drive back. Edward helped me out of the car when we got back to Alice's house (I should probably start calling it my house since I am going to be here for a while). I started to climb the stairs to my bedroom only to have an arm shoot around my waist and pull back down.

"Where do you think you are going?" Edward asked quietly in my ear.

"Where else would I be going?" I asked sarcastically "My bedroom." I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out and say "Duh". My mood wasn't the best, but considering my current condition, I dare someone to tell me I had to be perky.

"Well aren't we grumpy today," he chuckled and pulled me down the hallway.

"Where are we going? I am gonna have to climb the stairs sometime seeing as my bedroom is up there." I just wanted to lie down and get the weight off of my leg.

"Alice is taking your bedroom and you are taking hers so you don't have to worry about battling the stairs for a while." He told me matter-of-factly. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I was grateful. The stairs had been an obstacle that I knew I wasn't ready for but I didn't want to impose on Alice, even if she was my sister. We got into the bedroom and all I could do was stare for a bit. All of my stuff had been moved downstairs. And I mean all of it. From my dresser and bookshelf and desk down to the last elephant figurine (I collect elephants. I even went so far as to get one tattooed on my foot. I know stupid but I don't care, I like it). After a second, I hobbled in and flopped down on the bed with a groan. Edward was instantly at my side.

"What's wrong?" he wanted to know.

"Nothing, I am just glad to be off my feet. It feels nice to just lay here." I told him. Since the moment he showed up at the hospital, he became really overprotective. For the first day or so I thought it was sweet. Now, after day 4, it was starting to get annoying. Although it could just be the fact that I am tired of people thinking that I am a porcelain doll that is going to break with a touch. Sure I am sore and in pain and can barely move, but I can still do things for myself ya know. Of course I didn't tell anyone this, because all they would say would be "Bella, you are just being stubborn" or "Bella, let someone else help you for once" something to that effect. I lay there thinking about random things and the next thing I knew, Alice came in banging a pot and spoon together. If I hadn't been so sore, I would have hit the ceiling.

"What the heck?!" I yelled at her. She laughed.

"Come and get your food." She said simply and walked back out. I looked down to see that someone had pulled the covers over me and when I looked outside the sky was darker than it had been when I got home. I must have conked out for a while. I situated myself and prepared to get out of the bed which isn't as easy as it sounds. With a broken collar bone making it impossible to use my right arm, I had to try and hobble around on one crutch, which is harder than it looks. I managed to make it to the kitchen to see Alice pulling some bacon out of the fryer while the French toast was on the grill.

"What's with breakfast for dinner, Al?" she looked at me for a second.

"Bella, it is 8:30 in the morning. I have to go to work in an hour." I gaped at her.

"Oh." Was all I could think of to say. I had really lost track of time while I was in the hospital. I really needed to take a bath. After sitting in a hospital for several days without taking a shower really makes you feel really nasty.

"Al, do you think you could help me get a bath ready before you leave?" I felt embarrassed to ask, but I couldn't do it by myself.

"Sure. Do you want me to help you with your bathing suit too?" I hadn't thought about that, but it would be a lot easier to just throw a robe over myself without having to worry about trying to get clothes on.

"Yeah, thanks." In no time we had the water running, and Alice was helping me get a bag over my cast. I lowered myself into the bubbles with some help and immediately felt better.

"I gotta head out Bella, but I will see you tonight. Edward called and said he would be here around 10." I heard the front door shut and her car start up. I sat in the hot water for a while, but I knew I would have to get out soon before it cooled down. But not before I washed my hair. It was rather difficult with one hand but I finally got it done and it felt wonderful to have the grime washed out. Getting out of the tub proved to be much more difficult than getting in. I grabbed the bar on the wall that we used to hold the wash clothes and pulled myself up. Since my cast leg had been resting on the edge of the tub, it made it slightly easier to pull myself up and out but it still took a bit of doing. Alice had left the towel and robe sitting on the sink and before to long, I had made it to the couch in the living room.

I snatched the remote off the coffee table, and turned on the TV then groaned in frustration. I forgot to grab my hairbrush off the counter. I resigned myself to just having a tangled curly mess for the rest of the day. I just didn't have the energy. His voice came out of nowhere.

"Something wrong, sweetheart?" I gasped, my good hand going to my throat before I realized who it was. "Whoops, didn't mean to scare you." Edward replied with a tease in his voice. I turned around to see a huge grin split his face and couldn't help but smile myself.

"How was your day?" I asked as he plopped himself on the couch next to me.

"My day is just getting started." He was still smiling. "So what were you so frustrated about before I so rudely frightened you?"

"Oh nothing, I just forgot my hairbrush on the bathroom counter and was debating whether or not I wanted to get up and grab it or just let my hair go wild for a change." He was up in a moment and down the hall, then back before I could say "Bobs your uncle" with my hairbrush in hand. I grinned again.

"Thank you," I said reaching for the brush.

"Why don't you let me do that for you?" he said as he situated himself behind me on the ottoman. I had been leaning against the arm of the couch so my head could rest on a pillow while I watched the TV, and he pulled my hair out from under me and started running the brush through it. Alice used to do this for me when I was younger after our parents had left whenever I got upset. It was the one thing that could ever get me to relax and put me to sleep. Now was no different. I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and my head lolled to the side slightly.

"Bella, maybe you should go back to bed." Edward suggested as he finished brushing out the tangles and snags in my hair and then braided it loosely at the base of my neck. I had enough presence of mind to notice.

"Where did you learn to braid hair?"

"My mom taught me. She always said "Now Edward, you never know when this kind of thing might come in handy" every time she wanted to teach me something new and unfortunately for me, I can't forget anything." he chuckled and I sighed as he came back to sit on the couch and put his arm around me. I leaned in close and fell fast asleep. The next thing I remember was waking up to the doorbell ringing. I jumped a little, and when I realized what was going on, I made a move to get up and he gave me a stern look.

"You stay put. I will get it." He said as he walked towards the front entrance.

"How long was I out?" I asked his retreating back.

"About 5 maybe 6 hours." He called over his shoulder. A moment later I heard him open the door and a jumble of muted voices. Rose came in followed by Alice Emmett Jasper Angela. I must have had an interesting look on my face because they all laughed at me and came to hug me in turn.

"What's the occasion?" I wanted to know. Each was laden down with something in a brown paper bag, and I was curious.

"Your homecoming of course!" Alice stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We brought some presents. And tonight after work Rose Ang and I are going to go cook dinner for you and we are making your favorite." I can honestly say I have never seen Alice cook a day in her life besides sticking instant oatmeal in the microwave and that totally didn't count. I didn't know the extent of Rose's cooking skills, but with Alice I was absolutely terrified to see what it was going to turn out looking like. But first things first.

"You guys didn't have to get me presents. It's not like it was my first trip to the hospital." I stated simply and they all laughed again.

"We know Bella. It was all Edward's idea. The rest of us didn't get you anything." Emmett replied on a laugh and I looked at Edward and then down at the table where everything was stacked. There had to have been at least 6 gifts there. I turned a cold look on him which confused him.

"Bella, what's wrong?"

"I don't like people spending money on me." I said grumpily. To my surprise, he grinned back.

"Just wait till you see what they are. You are probably going to hate me more."

"We'll see. Just give me one and let's get started. I am hungry." The first present I opened was a pair of knee pads. I looked back up at Edward to see him smiling and heard Jasper choke down a laugh as I glared at him. I didn't really see the humor in this. With the next one I started to notice a pattern. Elbow pads came next, then wrist guards and then a helmet. By the time I had reached the last present, everyone was laughing at me, and I was fuming. I resolved to throw the next present at Edwards head. I pulled it out and just stared. It was a pair of brand spanking new roller blades. It took me a second to connect the dots and then it hit me. The pads and protective gear wasn't meant to be a joke about me falling on my butt all the time. Edward was going to teach me to roller skate! I glanced up at him sheepishly and he just grinned and pulled me into a tight hug. He released me all to soon and I turned to the rest of the group.

"I am sorry I was such a grump guys. How do you all put up with me?"

"Bella, seeing as what you have been through, I think we can all agree that you are entitled to be just a bit grumpy." Angela said, and I realized I hadn't seen my friend since the morning of the accident. She must have been worried sick. I gave her a smile and she got up from her spot on the couch and hugged me again. We pulled apart as Alice jumped up in excitement.

"OK, Rose Ang, lets go get cooking." And they headed off towards the kitchen. For the next 30 minutes he heard all sorts of random clanking noises but none of us got up to check if they were ok. Alice, being the drama queen that she is would scream bloody murder if something even remotely came close to staining her precious clothing, so I figured everything was ok. They came back in and we talked for the next couple hours. If the smells coming from the kitchen were any indication, they were cooking my beefsteak recipe and I wondered how on earth it took them 30 minutes to get it in the oven. The timer dinged telling us it was done and Alice went to check on it.

"Dinners ready!" she called to us as there was a knock on the door and then she yelled "I'll get it!" I heard her walk to the door and open it and then there was silence. After a moment I heard her uncertain voice quietly call me over.

"Bella…" she paused. I shook my head confused as Edward helped me up and over to the front door and as I came around the corner wall, I froze. Standing on our front porch, face to face with us after 8 years, I stared into the eyes of my father.


	15. Chapter 13

"Dad

BPOV

"Dad?" I barely registered Alice's voice. I could do nothing but stare. He looked at us and smiled.

"Hey girls."

"Wh…What are you doing here?" she asked with a quavering voice. I looked over to see that she had tears in her eyes.

"I'm home." My anger flared and I found my voice.

"You're home?! Really. Well you will excuse me if I am less than excited." I spat out bitterly.

"Bella…" he started but I cut him off.

"Don't Bella me!" I screamed furiously. "You show up after 8 years without so much as a letter or postcard or a freakin phone call telling us how you were where you were and you expect us to just welcome you home as if you never left! Forget it! I don't want to have anything to do with you!" I turned sharply and ran into Edward's chest. In my anger, I forgot that he was standing there holding me up. I looked at him then.

"Can you help me to my room please?" He hesitated glancing up to look at my father then nodded and I hobbled towards my temporary room and flopped on the bed. I buried my face in my pillow and cried, angry tears staining the white pillowcase.

"Bella, sweetheart are you going to be alright?" he was rubbing my back soothingly and it helped calm me down slightly. I pulled away from the pillow and looked at him tears still rolling down my cheeks and he gathered me in a hug. After several minutes my sobs finally subsided and I looked up at his face, his brows furrowed in concern.

"I'm sorry." I sniffed. "I'm ok."

"Bella, you are anything but ok. Talk to me." I gritted my teeth.

"How could he do that to us? I haven't see him in 8 years and here he just waltzes back into our lives like everything is hunky dory and just expects us to welcome him home with open arms!" I balled my hands into fists and started to beat the mattress before Edward grabbed them and held them still against his chest.

"Bella, I think you should at least give him a chance to explain himself. Get to know him again."

"I don't want to get to know him. I don't want to have anything to do with him!" I tried to reclaim my hands but he held them tight in one of his and used the other to claim my jaw to meet my eyes.

"Bella, I don't know what your father did to make you hate him so much, but you need to talk to him."

"I don't want to talk to him." I said stubbornly.

"Bella." He said sternly and I knew I probably wasn't going to win this fight.

"Fine." I huffed. "But at least let me put on something a little more decent than a bath robe and swim suit." He raised his eyebrows in question and I held a hand up. "Don't ask."

"I'll be right outside the door when you are ready." He said as he smoothed the hair from my face, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. I threw on a pair of workout pants so they would fit over my cast and a Mario Brothers T-shirt with a red fleece sweatshirt. I was at least going to be comfortable. I hobbled out a minute later and Edward was there to help me to the kitchen. My "dad" stood up the moment we walked in and came to my side. I shoved past him slightly and settled myself on the nearest chair. I looked around the room and realized that the other must have left because it was only Alice Jasper Edward and me. Oh, and Charlie.

"Bella-girl, what happened to you?" funny, he actually seemed concerned about me. Well I guess 8 years gives you plenty of time to perfect your poker face.

"Nothing." I replied shortly and both Edward and Alice gave me a stern look. There was a bit of an awkward silence and then Alice broke in.

"Dad, this is Edward. He is Bella's boyfriend." Edward stuck his hand out and my dad grasped it in return, looking him up and down subtly.

"It is nice to meet you sir." I snorted.

"Bella, what is the matter with you?" Alice scolded me.

"Nothing, I just don't see why we have to try and be nice to him after all he did to us." I wanted everything out in the open now so I could spend as little time with him as possible.

"Bella-girl, just hear me out. Let me explain…" he started but I cut him off.

"Explain what. Everything up until this point has been pretty much self explanatory."

"Bella, I did what I did because I loved you. I wanted better for you."

"Oh, you loved us! That's funny you know that. And even if it was the tiniest bit remotely true, you sure have a hell of a way of showing it!"

"Don't use that kind of language with me, Isabella Swan. I raised you better than that." He was stern now too.

"You didn't raise me at all. Alice did. You can't just waltz in here and take charge of everything. We have been doing just fine without you and we will be just fine after you leave again." I yelled back at him defiantly.

"I am not planning on leaving anytime soon young lady and I would expect a little more respect out of you."

"Well, isn't that nice." I spat out sarcastically.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed and I remembered that there were others in the room. I looked away from my fathers face to see that Alice Jasper and Edward were staring at me with matching expressions of shock on both their faces. I stood up abruptly and stalked out of the room. Edward tried to help me but I pushed past him. I could feel the tears welling up behind my eyes again and I wanted nothing more than to be alone. I slammed the door shut and threw myself on the bed. I felt around for baldy and when I found him, I clutched him close. I could hear voices coming from the kitchen, but I tuned them out and after a while I drifted off into a fitful, tearful slumber.

EPOV

I talked with Alice and Charlie for a bit in the kitchen but went to check on Bella when I could no longer hear her crying. I eased the door open to see her asleep on the bed, that silly bear held tightly in her good arm and smiled. I pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed and let my thoughts wander. What had Charlie done to cause Bella to hate him so much? He seemed like a good guy from the small talk that I had with him in the kitchen but I didn't know him very well and apparently there was something I didn't know. After a little while longer, once I realized she wasn't going to wake up, I replaced the chair and went back into the kitchen closing the door softly behind me. I came back on the scene just as Alice and Jasper were walking Charlie to the door.

"It was good to meet you, Edward, Jasper. I trust you both are taking good care of girls." Jasper nodded his head.

"Yes sir, we try. Bella can be a real pistol, but you probably already know that." I replied and Charlie laughed.

"That's an understatement." Alice put in and we all laughed, not at Bella herself, but at the very blunt truth of the statement. Charlie left a minute later, and Alice Jasper and I were left to clean up the kitchen.

"So." I started and Alice seemed to understand the simply statement.

"Yeah." She replied flatly. We didn't talk for a few minutes but there was something nagging at me.

"So, why is Bella so angry with your father?" I asked. Alice sighed.

"Did Bella tell you what happened to us when we were younger?" I nodded, remembering the time at the dance class when Bella told me how her father and mother had both left when she and Alice were younger.

"Well, after he left, the people in town started all these stories about how he was a drug dealer on the run or he was cheating on our mother or how he was abusive to her and she threatened to take us away from him if he didn't leave or change. Bella, being her trusting self believe them and has hated him since that day. She shut herself off after that. She didn't trust anyone for ages. It has only been just recently that she has come out of her shell. And then you came into the picture. Edward, I have never seen her so happy and open and lively since she met you. She is an entirely different person. It is like she came back to life after being dead for so many years. This is the first time she has trusted someone in years." I understood, now, some of her wariness and sarcasm when we first met. She was trying to protect herself from getting hurt.

"What happened to make him leave? He must have known how it would affect you both." She hesitated and I knew that she was hiding something.

"Alice, what happened?" I needed to know.

"If I tell you, do you promise not to say anything to Bella? He wants to talk to her himself."

"Of course."

"My parents had been friends since there were kids. When my mother was 18, she was raped in the alley next to her school. The cops never found the guy. Her parents shunned her and she didn't have anywhere to go. My dad was a couple years older than her and wanted to help. He was very old fashioned and offered to take care of her if she would marry him. So they went to the justice of the peace and were married the next week. I think they really did love each other. My mother worked at a diner until I was born and they stayed home to take of me while my dad worked. They had Bella a few years later. Everything was great, and then my mom began to change. Not a lot, but there were subtle differences. She would come home late sometimes not at all. Soon my dad found the drugs under the mattress and threatened to go to the cops. But my mom told him that if he went to the cops, she would tell them that he beat both her and me and Bella and she would have him locked up. Soon after that he left."

"He left you both with a drug addict mother? How could he do that?"

"Edward, you don't understand. My mother was the town mayor's daughter. No matter what her past, who do you think the judge would believe? My mother or her deadbeat husband who didn't have a steady job and came from an abusive home himself. Even after he left, he would send us some monthly cash. I didn't ever tell my mother, I just stashed it away. And then she left. Bella was devastated."

"So why didn't he come back then?" Jasper asked.

"I don't think he knew. I never had a return address to write him back. He would enclose a small note in every envelope and that was it. And he always told me never to tell Bella. She wasn't that young, but he didn't want her exposed to that at all. I have kept this to myself for 8 years." I could tell she had started to cry and Jasper came over and gathered her up in a hug. I wanted to ask more questions but Bella wobbled into the kitchen at that moment. I got up quickly from the chair I had settled myself into and helped her sit down. She looked groggy and her eyes were red and puffy. I couldn't figure out quite what to say after all I had just heard but Alice came to the rescue.

"Still hungry bells?"


	16. Chapter 14

BPOV

BPOV

The next few weeks…in a word…sucked. Charlie came by every day and did his best to get to know me and Alice again and I did my level best to ignore him or make him so angry he left. Neither worked, so I would sit in the living room and listen to him and Alice in the kitchen talking about her dancing where he had been and other random stuff. After a while I usually just got up and went to my room to read a book. Edward came over most days too and that helped, but there was still a part of me, the part that was still a 13 year old girl that wanted to go talk to her dad and laugh with him and hug him and have him tell her everything was alright and he would never leave again. But I knew better. What would stop him from leaving? He had already done it once. I resolved myself to thinking that once he left again everything would go back to normal. But everyday he would come back and everyday him and Alice would sit there and talk like they were old buddies. Today was no different except for the fact that Edward couldn't come over till later in the evening because his grandma was visiting from Texas. I could hear Charlie and Alice talking and they must have assumed I was asleep because they started talking about me.

"Ally please tell me what happened. I have been waiting for Bella to open up to me for weeks and she is still as closed off to me as a safe."

"I don't know exactly what happened. She went for a run at the lake and some guy came at her out of the bushes. You should have seen her in the hospital dad. She looked awful. And she won't talk to anyone about it. She just closes herself off like she did after you left. I don't know if I can take much more of this. All she is doing is torturing herself." I didn't listen after that. I stomped as best I could into my room and slammed the door.

"How dare they talk about me! I am perfectly fine!" I picked up the pillow on the bed and chucked it across the room at the bookshelf. It shook and a box fall from the very top and spill papers all over the floor as it hit. I grimaced as I bent over the clean it up but something caught my eye on one of the papers. I gathered them all together in the box and sat down on the bed and pulled one of the papers out and started reading. They were letters. From my dad to Alice.

_Dear Ally,_

_I am sorry I left the way I did. I hope you will understand one day. I did it for you and Bella. I couldn't stick around and watch your mother destroy herself like that. I wanted to take you both with me but she threatened to call the police on me and no one in the right mind is going to take my word over hers so for now this will have to do. Enclosed is some cash for you and Bella. Don't let your mom find out about it. Hide it in a safe place. Please don't tell Bella about this. I don't want to burden her with this. One day I will come back to you but until then know that I love you both so much._

_Dad_

I gaped at the letter. What the heck was he talking about? I pulled out the next one and continued reading.

_Ally,_

_How are my girls doing? I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, it has been a difficult couple of months. Here is some more money for you and Bella. Remember don't ever let your mom find it. All she would do would be to buy more drugs. I wish I could be there with you but it just isn't possible at this point in time. I love you both more than you will ever know._

_Dad_

There were at least 16 letters in all. Written 2 months apart from the day he left till the day he came back. I sat there for the next few hours reading his letters. I couldn't stop the tears that were rolling down my cheeks.

"And you treated him like the plague Bella." I scolded myself out loud as the tears continued to fall on the bed unnoticed. "How could you. All he was doing was trying to help and you hated him for it." I grabbed my crutch and opened the door hobbling towards the kitchen the best I could, the letters clutched in my bad arm. I came around the corner of the kitchen and stood there watching my dad as he wandered around the kitchen with an apron around his waist making dinner. Him and Alice were talking about what to make when they noticed me and stopped in their tracks. I knew I looked awful. I could still feel the tears rolling down my face but I didn't care. I went over to my dad and threw my good arm around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. He hesitated for a moment and then hugged me back so tight I didn't think I would be able to breathe.

"Daddy I am so sorry. I didn't know." I cried and pulled back enough to show him the letters that were now crumpled in my hands. He looked down at them for a moment and the back at my face. "Please forgive me dad I was so horrible to you." He grabbed me back in another bone crushing hug and I could feel wetness soaking into my short as he started crying too.

"Bella girl, I should be asking you that. I had no right to keep it from you like this. I just didn't want to put that kind of weight on your shoulders." I heard another hiccup and looked up to see Alice had tears in her eyes too and we gathered her up in the hug too.

EPOV

I knocked at the door but no one answered so I tried then knob. The door opened and I walked inside. I figured someone was home because Charlie's truck was outside and I had a feeling that Bella wouldn't have left him alone in their house if it killed her. I had finally decided to talk to her about her hatred towards Charlie but as I walked into the kitchen the words stuck in my throat at what I saw. Bella Charlie and alice were all huddled in the middle of the kitchen with puffy red eyes and tear stained cheeks. I tried to back out of the doorway quietly but the floor squeaked everyone turned to look at me. The look on Bella's face was a wonderful sight. She was smiling like I had never seen her smile before. Even through the redness of her eyes, that smile lit up her face like nothing I had ever seen and I found myself smiling back at her in return. She came across the room and I gathered her up in my arms.

"Are you all right?" I pulled away enough to look her in the eyes. She grinned through her tears.

"Never better." She replied as she grinned towards her father. I started to ask what happened to change her mind and then I saw the letters gripped in her hand and hugged her again.

"I think that we should go out to dinner tonight." Alice stated matter of factly a moment later. "With the condition that the three of us are in, we might blow up the kitchen if we try to cook anything." We all laughed. "I will call Jasper and tell him there was a change of plans and I am busy tonight."

"Don't be ridiculous Al, he is more than welcome to come. Right dad?" Bella asked.

"Of course. Why don't you invite your other friends too. We will just make it a huge party." Charlie suggested. Bella and Alice headed off to get clean up and get ready and I called Emmett Rosalie Jasper and Angela. We all made plans to meet at Bob's Burger and Brew at 7 and Charlie and I sat down to wait for the girls.


	17. Chapter 15

BPOV

BPOV

The next few days were spent trying to catch up with my father. There were 8 years that we couldn't get back but we did the best we could. Everything was going great. But like all good things, it didn't last. I was watching my Supernatural season 2 DVD on Thursday morning afternoon when I got a call from the police department.

"Hello?"

"This is police chief Tregger. May I please speak to Bella Swan?"

"This is Bella, what can I do for you sir?"

"Several weeks ago you filed a complaint with the department about someone that attacked you on the trail at Cranberry Lake. Is this correct?"

"Yes sir, but I was told that until they had a suspect, they couldn't do anything about it."

"That is why I am calling Miss Swan. We have a suspect in custody and we would like you to come and look at a line up for us." I dropped the remote. Over the past several weeks I had been able to put that ordeal to the back of my mind. And now that my dad and I were getting along better, I forgot about it completely.

"I guess I can manage that. When do you need me to come down?"

"Is this afternoon to soon for you?"

"No sir I think I can make it then."

Thank you Miss Swan." And with that he hung up. I couldn't move from the couch. I didn't want to have to face this guy again. I didn't know how I was going to do it. I broke down into tears and that is how my dad found me.

"Bella girl, what's wrong?" he sat down on the couch next to me and put his arm around me. I leaned into his shoulder and let the tears soak into his shirt. When I could finally talk after a while I looked up into his concerned face.

"Daddy, they want me to go to the police station to look at a line up." it didn't take him long to catch on.

"Do they have a suspect in custody?"

"They said they did. They want me to come down this afternoon. Will you come with me dad?" I wanted Edward with me too but he was at work at the hospital and I didn't want to call and bother him.

"Of course." I smiled.

"Thanks dad." I said and gave him a hug. It was 11 now but I wanted to get it done with as soon as possible so I took a bath and was ready to go about 1:30. We drove in silence to the police station and dad helped me out and into the lobby waiting room and sat me down in a chair while he went to the desk to let them know I was here. Not 5 minutes later a uniformed officer came through the door and called my name to come back with him. The brought me into a small room that had a window in front of it.

"Now Miss Swan…"he started.

"Please call me Bella. It weird when people call me Miss. It makes me feel old." He chuckled a little and started over.

"Bella, I am Officer Alex Talbot. I am going to walk you through what is going to happen. This is a one way window. You can see them but all they see is a mirror so you don't have to worry about being identified. We have 5 people in the line up. I am going to ask each one to step forward starting from the left. They are numbered 1-7. If you see the man that attacked you at the lake, just write down his number here in this sheet of paper. If you don't recognize anyone here, we also have another line up for you too look at as well. Can you handle that much?"

"Yes sir." Is all I said. I was so nervous I didn't trust myself to be able to form full sentences.

"Alright." He turned to speak into a microphone on the wall. "Number one please step forward." The guy on the far left took a step into the light and I knew instantly it wasn't him. I shook my head.

"Number 1 please step back. Number 2 step forward." Again the man came into the light and again I shook my head. We continued the same way until we got to number 6 and I gasped as his f ace came into view. He looked like he just went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, but I could still feel myself start shaking. Dad put his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder. That gave me strength enough. The officer looked at me and I nodded my head and wrote down the number 6 on the paper on in front of me. Officer Talbot turned and walked out the door for a moment. I saw through the window 2 more officers walk into the line up room and put number 6 in hand cuffs. Then Officer Talbot came back in.

"Thank you Bella. You may go now, I will walk you back out to the lobby." He turned and started to leave.

"Officer," he turned and looked at me. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"How did you find him?" he hesitated for a moment.

"I am not allowed to answer those kind of questions but I can take you to chief Tregger. He should be able to answer some of your questions for you. Follow me."

"Thank you." He led dad and I down the hall and turned left into an office towards the end.

"Chief, Bella Swan is here to see you."

"Send her in." Officer Talbot motioned for us to enter the office and then turned back down the hall. I walked into the office as a man in his late 40's stood up from behind his desk and came around to shake our hands.

"Pleased to meet you Miss Swan. I am Chief Tregger. I spoke to you on the phone this morning."

"I appreciate you calling sir. And please call me Bella. This is my father, Charlie Swan."

"Its good to meet you. Please have a seat." He said and indicated the chairs facing his desk. He in turn walked around and sat down in the comfortable looking leather chair behind his desk.

"What can I do for you?" he folded his hands on top of the desk in a relaxed but professional manner.

"Well, sir I was wondering if I could ask how you caught the man that attacked me?" I am not usually so blunt but I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. I didn't like being in the same building as "number 6".

"We have had several complaints over the last few months about girls that have been attacked on the lake trail and raped. We also have reports about a few women going missing around the lake area, so we posted several officers undercover around the lake and had them do rounds ever couple of hours. Officer Talbot was one of them. While he was jogging on the trail keeping tabs, he came across a couple of men fighting with someone and trying to hold him to the ground while one of their friends was checking the girl and calling the police."

"Where on the trail did they find him?"

"I believe it was about 2 and a half miles from the beginning of the trail." Right about where I had been attacked. He continued on. "You were the only person that we could get a hold of when they brought him in. we tried to reach the other people that have filed reports, but you were the first to answer your phone."

"Who is he?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"His name is James Cook. He has been arrested on several charges of suspicion of sexual harassment and assault in Oregon Idaho and California but never convicted because there was insufficient evidence and no witnesses. With your testimony and hopefully the testimonies of the other women, we should be able to get him behind bars for good. Especially if we can link him to the missing persons cases as well. If we can convict him of these charges, we may be able to pull out the cases from the other states and take a second look at them as well."

"How many other women are there?" I asked quietly.

"We have reports from 12 other women over the past 8 months but you and Miss Webber are the most recent." Oh no.

"Webber? Angela Webber?" he looked at me somewhat confused.

"Do you know her?"

"We went to school together. I work for her parents." I could feel myself start to shake again. "Please, tell me she is ok."

"She is doing fine. The paramedics checked her out and other than a few minor bruises and scrapes there is nothing wrong. I think she was prepared."

"What do you mean?"

"From what it sounds like, she had a can of mace on her, steal toed boots and brass knuckles. Needless to say, he is a little worse for the wear." That didn't surprise me. I smiled slightly. Angela had been in the kickboxing class with me and Alice and was much better at it than us.

"Who were the other men that helped her?" my dad spoke up.

"I have their names here. There was a Jasper Hale, and an Emmett and Edward Cullen." I could feel my face drain of all color.

"Cullen, but tha…" dad started to say, but I stood up abruptly, cutting him off.

"Thank you for answering our questions Mr. Tregger and for all your help. I think we should be going now." I said as I reached across the desk and shook his hand as he stood as well.

"We will be in touch as soon as a court date is chosen. Have a good day Miss Swan." He replied as we walked out the door.

"Bella, are you alright?" my dad asked as we walked out to the car.

"I just need to get home. Please just take me home dad." I could feel the anger start to well up and suddenly I wanted to punch something. Instead I just sat in the cab of my dad's truck and tried my best not to scream. They had a lot of explaining to do.

EPOV

I hadn't like the plan to begin with, and I knew that if Bella found out she would be furious with all of us. Everyone assured me that she wouldn't, but I knew deep down that there was no keeping this from her. But it had worked. Once Emmett and Jasper had the guy on the ground, it was over.

It had all be Angela's idea and after a lot of protesting for mostly me, everyone decided that it was a good idea and to go ahead with it. The plan had been that Angela would run the trail and Emmett Jasper and I would all be positioned on spots along the trail approximately where Bella had been attacked. We had no idea if the guy was even going to be there. If he chose a different spot on the trail we would be in big trouble but Angela was quite confident that she would be able to do enough damage that he would leave her alone if we weren't around to help her. Luckily this guy was a creature of habit. It happened just like Bella had described it. He was on the side of the trail clutching his leg. Angela went along with it and when we heard her start to scream we came running. I was the fastest and the closest and landed a solid blow that knocked him on the ground. Emmett and Jasper were right behind me and kept him there while I went to check on Angela. She had a few small cuts on her arms and her cheek was bleeding slightly where I assumed he must have hit her, but other than that she was fine.

Then something happened that I didn't expect but was absolutely grateful for. I had pulled out my cell phone to call the police when a guy came running up the trail to us. He stopped briefly to check on Angela and show us his badge, identifying himself as Officer Talbot. He was a police officer. This couldn't have worked out any better. In no time at all he was on the ground with Emmett and Jasper putting the guy in handcuffs, and pulling out a radio to alert the force that he had the guy in custody. We all walked back to the beginning of the trail, the handcuffed guy in between Alex and Emmett and Angela between me and Jasper. There was a squad car waiting for us along with an ambulance. They checked out Angela and said she could go to the hospital to be checked out further but they didn't think that it was necessary.

After they took the guy away, the rest of us went home. We dropped Angela off and when we offered to stay and talk to her parents with her, she refused. Emmett got back to the shop and I headed home to shower and clean up before I headed over the Bella's house. It was about 3 by the time I got to her house. I noticed Charlie's truck wasn't in the driveway and I knocked on the door. No one answered.

"Bella? Anyone home?" I called but it was all silent so I grabbed the hide-a-key from under the frog at the front door and let myself in. I sat down on the couch and watched a TV for a few minutes waiting for someone to come home when I heard a car pull up in the driveway. I looked out the window and saw Bella get out of the passengers seat. I got to the front door and opened it just as she reached the front steps. But instead of greeting me with her usual hug and kiss, she shoved me hard in the shoulder with her good arm. It wasn't very powerful but it caught me off guard and I stumbled back into the house.

"How could you do that?! What the hell were you thinking?!" she started yelling at me and I knew in an instant that somehow she had found out.

"Bella, let me explain." I stated calmly but she didn't hear me.

"What would you have done if Angela had gotten hurt! Did you even think it through!" she fumed and stomped into the living room. I followed her and when she tried to speak again I stopped her with a hand to her mouth. Her face was beet red and I could almost see the vein in her head throbbing. She was royally pissed off.

"Bella let me explain." I said again and when she started to protest I gently sat her down on the couch, keeping my hand over her mouth.

"It was Angela's idea to start with. She knew the risks Bella. She didn't want what happened to you to happen to anyone else." I explained to her what the plan had been and she calmed after a bit. I knew she was still angry but I did my best to assure her that everything went as planned.

"Did Al and Rose know about it?"

"We didn't want to tell them till after, even though they probably would have gone right along with it."

"Are you sure Ang is ok?"

"She is fine Bella. The paramedics didn't even make her go to the hospital." I could see that she was starting to flag, so I helped her to her bedroom and pulled the covers over her. When I went back out to the living room, I saw Charlie leaning up against the door frame to the kitchen looking at me. He motioned me into the kitchen and we both sat down on opposite sides of the table.

"You do know that what you did was irresponsible and could have had severe consequences had something gone wrong?" he started in.

"Yes sir, we knew the risks when we decided to go on with it."

"As much as I feel like I should be yelling at you for being that careless, I am grateful that Bella has people in her life that love her enough to risk their lives for her. So I would like to thank you." He extended his hand towards me. I hadn't expected this. I figured that he would give me the third degree on how I was a bad influence on Bella that I would be willing to go along with such a foolhardy plan and that he wanted me to stay away from her. I took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Just don't do it again. I don't ever want to see my Bella that angry again. I thought her head was going to explode." I laughed.

"You have nothing to worry about sir. I have a feeling that I am going to be spending the next few days groveling at her feet and that is not something that I want to repeat."


	18. Chapter 16

BPOV

BPOV

"I'm free at last!" I exclaimed dramatically as I flung the front door open and walked in the house, cast free. Today was the last day I had to go to physical therapy. After I had gotten the cast off my leg, the doctor made me go through 2 months of physical therapy to get my leg back up to full strength. You would be surprised how weak it was after only 6 weeks of not being used. I still had to wear a brace but I was cast and crutch free and could walk on my own for the first time in weeks.

"Guys?" I called. Alice came in right behind me.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

"I dunno." I thought they had said they were going to be here, but as I looked around the house, I realized there was no one here. Disappointment knifed through me but I squelched the feeling. They must have had something important to do. All of 6 of them. At the same time. I walked into the living room and plopped myself on the couch preparing to sulk, Alice settling in next to me.

"SURPRISE!" the room erupted in screams and yells, mine and Al's the loudest of all. We jumped so bad, I slid off the couch and hit the floor with a thud and Alice rammed the coffee table with her knee. Edward, grinning from ear to ear, extended his hand towards me to help me up, smiling wider as I rubbed the now sore spot on my butt, kissing me lightly on the forehead as was his usual. I looked over as Jasper scooped Alice's tiny frame in his arms and kissed her.

"What is going on?" I asked Edward as I looked around the room. Everyone was there. Angela, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Walt, Linda, Barb, Jacob, Carlisle, Esme and someone that I didn't recognize.

"Edward, who is that?" I asked quietly. He looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"Bella, that's Sam."

"Hi, Bella." Then his voice registered. I had called him the week after I got out of the hospital to thank him myself.

"Sam! What are you doing here? It's nice to actually meet you in person. I can't thank you enough for being there." I told him sincerely.

"Daddy," I called him over from the doorway that he had appeared through. "Daddy, this is Sam. He is the one that helped me at the lake."

"Its good to meet you sir." Sam said, shaking my fathers hand firmly.

"Same to you. I am sure you have heard it enough already but I personally would like to thank you for being there for my Bella when I couldn't be." I wondered at that statement but decided to file it away for later.

"So what's the deal?" I asked. "What is everyone doing here?" Rose gestured towards the wall, and it was then I spotted the "Happy birthday" sign tacked there. I was officially confused now.

"What is with the happy birthday sign?" Alice asked from behind me. I looked to see that Jasper had set her on her feet, but was still holding onto her tightly, both his arms wrapped around her waist his chin resting on her shoulder.

"It's a birthday party." Angela stated simply.

"Birthday part? For who?" I was totally confused now.

"For you." This came from my dad.

"For me? What do you mean for me?"

"Well, for you and Alice. Since I wasn't here for your birthdays this year, I wanted to throw a belated party for you both."

"What?" we both exclaimed at the same time but for totally different reasons. Alice was completely stoked at the idea of having yet another birthday party and more presents. I on the other hand, hated being the center of attention. I preferred to blend into the crown and not be singled out. It was a wonder sometimes how Alice and I were even related.

"Daddy, you didn't have to give us a party." I pouted.

"Speak for yourself Bella, you can never have to many parties and presents." Everyone laughed.

"I can see that Alice hasn't changed that much." my dad said and we all sat down and laughed at the stories that he told us about Alice and me at our birthday parties when we were younger.

"Cake time!" Alice yelled. "Wait, there is cake right?" we laughed some more.

"Of course there is cake. What kind of party would it be with out cake." He paused, for dramatic effect I suppose. "And presents." Alice squealed. And launched herself at my dad. Across the coffee table I might add. I was appalled that yet another person was spending money on me. I had managed to convince everyone that they were only allowed to get me one gift for my birthday and I had to be content with that. The rollerblades and pads that Edward had gotten me after I got out of the hospital were a complete surprise but this was totally different.

"Dad, really you didn't have to get us…me anything. I would have been totally fine with just having a little get together."

"I know. But then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of watching your faces when I give you your birthday presents."

"Dad…"

"Bella-girl, don't argue with me. I wanted to do it."

"Oh fine. So what are these presents?"

"You know better than to ask me that. And don't try and go looking for them either. They aren't here." This threw me.

"They aren't here? Well, then where are they?"

"Patience Bella." He chuckled. "That is all part of the surprise."

"Come on dad." I knew whining probably wouldn't get me anywhere but I was willing to try anything. he just laughed again and led me into the kitchen.

"Lets get some cake Bella-girl."


	19. Chapter 17

BPOV

BPOV

The cake was wonderful and afterwards we all piled in our cars and followed dad out to where our presents supposedly were. Since they were for Alice and me, we had to be blindfolded. Angela went home with her parents Barb and Jacob who they were dropping back off at the store. Carlisle and Esme left to go home, and Sam said he had to get driving back to La Push so it was just the six of us and my dad heading out to who knows where, Edward holding my hand the entire way and deflecting any questions I had about where we were going very nicely.

After a bit the ground got a bit bumpier and we gradually pulled to a stop. Seeing as I was still blindfolded, Edward had to help me out of the car and then supported me with an arm around my waist while we walked over the uneven ground. I caught a slight smell on the air, and then was completely confused. The only way to describe it was to say it smelled like farm. Honestly, they could have just told us we were headed back to Walt and Linda's house for presents and there would have been no need to blindfold us. I was getting frustrated now.

"Can I take this blindfold off yet." I whined. I could feel Edward shake beside me as he laughed.

"Not yet love. Just a little further." I could hear the others walking somewhere close by but couldn't pinpoint where they were or who. Finally we stopped and I could feel the others stop next to me. Somewhere I heard a gasp and then someone making a hushing sound.

"_NOW_ can I take it off?"

"Ok, now." This came from my father. I ripped the blindfold off with the hand that wasn't being held and had to blink my eyes a bit to adjust to the brightness of being outside. When they came into focus I looked around and realized that although we were on a farm, it was not Walt and Linda's but I didn't take in all the scenery because Alice was frozen in place to my left. I followed her gaze and gaped. There, sitting in front of the farm house was a brand new yellow '09 Camaro and a fully restored metallic red 1967 Shelby GT-500 **(A.N. – if you don't know what that is it is a type of mustang, like the one in **_**Gone in 60 Seconds**_**)**. About the moment I realized what I was looking at, Alice let out an ear piercing scream worse than anything I have ever heard come from her and was a blur as she ran and threw herself at my dad in a bear hug. My feet however were still rooted in the ground as I stared at the beautiful car in front of me.

"Now we each have one." Edward whispered in my ear. I broke out of my reverie and looked up to see a mischievous look on his face.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Oh nothing." He said casually and quirked an eyebrow at me. "Wanna race?" With that a smile broke across my face and I stood on my toes to kiss him.

"Hey now, what about your old man." I heard my dad complain in the background and broke away from Edward to throw my arms around his neck in a suffocating hug.

"Easy Bells, save some for later." He chuckled and I pulled back to look at him.

"Don't tell me there is more."

"There's more." He stated simply and I let go of his neck to put my hands on my hips.

"Daddy, you know how I feel about people spending money on me. If I didn't love that car so much I would demand that you take it back." He laughed outright at that.

"Just come on inside and you will see."

"Dad, we can't just go tramping around in someone else's home."

"Actually we can."

"And how do you figure." Wasn't _he_ supposed to be the mature on telling _me_ not to trespass?

"Well, because I own it." I gaped.

"What do you mean you own it?" this came from Alice who I hadn't realized came to stand next to me. Probably when she heard there were more presents.

"Well, a couple days after I came to visit you that first time, I started looking around for somewhere to live. I couldn't very well keep staying at the hotel."

"Dad, you could have come to stay with us." Alice interrupted him.

"I know darlin but Bella was still mad at me then and I didn't want to cause any trouble between you both." I could feel my face heat as I remembered how hateful I had been those first few weeks he had been back. He lifted my chin so I would meet his eyes.

"Bella girl there is nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't right of me to leave you like that."

"Its ok dad."

"I know that I don't deserve it, but I wanted to so bad to be a family again. I don't need an answer now but I want you to think about moving back in here with me. I know it's a little out of the way but I really think we could make it work." By this time we were all in tears. He gathered both of us into another hug.

It took a few minutes but we eventually made it inside the house. As I looked around I noticed the house was littered with pictures of me and Alice, some I don't even remember being taken and some that I thought we had lost years ago. Dad led us into the kitchen and I could tell that he had been living here for a while. There were dishes all over the sink and counter and cereal boxes and soup cans covering the table. I fought back the urge to laugh. He had never cleaned the house to impress company that may come over, and it was obvious that some things just don't change.

"Ok, since I didn't exactly know what to get you, Al, because all you really love to do is shop," we all laughed at that, "I got this for you." He handed her a gift card. "It is like a debit card so you can use it wherever you want." She squealed again, and although it wasn't as bad as the one outside I was standing pretty darn close and it still made my ears ring. Dad turned to me then.

"If you will follow me Bella, your other present is outback." Dad grabbed something out of the fridge, and I followed him through the kitchen to the back porch, but froze on the top step. Standing there in the yard tied to the side of the house was the most beautiful colt I had ever seen in my entire life.

"Dad, what did you do?" he chuckled at that. I stepped down and cautiously approached him. There was no need. The minute I was close enough, he nuzzled his head against my chest, looking for some kind of treat. My dad handed me the carrots he must have grabbed from the fridge and I fed one to him.

"What's his name?"

"I believe Walt said his name was Warrior."

"Walt?" I looked at him confused.

"Yep. You are looking at the first foul sired by Sir Prize."

"I can't believe they let you buy him."

"They love you Bella. I am glad you had people like them and Barb looking after you." We headed back into the house and after a couple more hours we said goodbye to my dad.

"Don't forget these," he yelled out the front door and tossed me the keys to my brand new, classic mustang.

"So about that race." Edward commented to me as we walked back.

"What about it?" I looked up at him. He waggled his brows suggestively.

"Now?" I asked, playing it up a bit. He shrugged nonchalantly and I laughed. "But your car is still at your house. We would have to go pick it up."

"Ah, but I, knowing you were going to be blindfolded, planned ahead." With this, we rounded the edge of trees and there was his hunter green mustang, sitting there.

"I got to ride in it and you didn't even tell me?! What's wrong with you?!" I exclaimed and smacked him on the back of the head. He just laughed.

"I think Rosalie is rubbing off on you." I ignored that comment and tossed the keys up and down in my hand.

"Ready to get your butt kicked?"

"In your dreams." He sounded supremely confident. I couldn't wait to wipe that silly smirk off his face.

"Hmm, how about a little wager?" I asked. I didn't want to seem too confident.

"What did you have in mind?"

"If I win, I get to watch from a lawn chair while do all my chores at the farm for a day." He thought about that for a bit.

"Ok. And if I win, I get to watch you wash dry and wax every car in my garage." I hesitated at that. They had a lot of cars.

"What. Scared of a little competition, Swan." His use of my last name put me over the edge.

"Deal." He grinned. Way to confident. Yep definitely gonna enjoy wiping that look off his pretty little face.

"Alright, let's say we go north on I-5 to exit 252 then turn back south and head back to Al's house."

"Lets go." I said and went to get in your car. I started it up and couldn't stop the smile that split my face at the sound of the engine purr. I reached over to roll down the passenger side window and pulled up next to Edward.

"Ready." He asked. I grinned.

"Definitely."


	20. chapter 18

EPOV

EPOV

We took off down the driveway and I, being the gentleman that I am, peeled out of the driveway first so I could be in the lead. Even though the race didn't officially start till we hit the on-ramp I decided to have a little fun and floored it loving the feeling of being pushed back into my seat. We made our way down the winding back roads, Bella right on my heels the entire way. I had to give her credit. She handled that car pretty well seeing as it was the first time she ever drove it. We were already passing 70 mph and we weren't even on the freeway yet.

The on-ramp came into view and I slowed down for the turn so I didn't skid into the guardrail and hit the gas, pushing my car to its limit. It was a good thing it was later at night because there were fewer cars on the freeway and I could move in between traffic with ease. My speedometer was pushing 105 when I glanced in my mirror to see how Bella was fairing but I didn't spot her car. I took a second longer glance to see if those were her headlights fading in my mirror when all of the sudden she pulled up right next to me in the left lane, waved, the pulled ahead and cut me off. I was shocked but quickly brought my head back into the race. There was no way I was going to let her beat me.

I pressed the gas harder and pulled up behind her then quickly changed lanes and sped past her to get in front of her again. the exit was coming up fast and I knew that if I could get off before Bella, there was no way she would beat me back. My speedometer was reading 120 so I had to slow down hard and fast. Bella was still behind me when I hit the off-ramp and I knew I had it in the bag. We still have a few minutes till we to her house. I glanced back in my mirror in time to see Bella whip a right hand turn and disappear from sight. I grinned to myself. She though she could beat me by taking a different road but I knew this was the shortest route there. Or so I thought. As I turned into Bella's long driveway, I saw her sitting on the hood of her car grinning from ear to ear. As I gaped, she stuck her tongue out at me.

"How did you beat me?" I asked bewildered as I got out of my car. She snorted.

"I have lived here my whole life. You learn back roads and alleys real fast."

"You cheated!" I tried to find a loophole. I had really been looking forward to watching her try to wax my cars.

"I did not! It's not my fault you didn't specify which roads we could or could not take." I didn't know what to say. All she could do was grin.

"It's getting late. You should go home and get some rest for your big day tomorrow." She came off the hood of her car and started to head towards her house. I came back to earth and caught her before she made it past the car, grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me in a hug.

"Don't I get a reward for coming in second?" I whispered in her ear. She pulled back to smile shyly as I bent to kiss her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and picked her up to rest on the side of her car as she threaded her hands through my hair. All to soon she pulled back and rested her forehead on mine.

"I should get going. I still have to drive back to the farm. You should too. I expect you bright and early." I groaned slightly and she laughed.

"And what are you going to do all day?" she tilted her head to the side for a moment in thought.

"Depends on the weather I guess. If it rains I might stay in the house or help you with the chores. And if it's sunny…" she paused. "Oh ill figure something out." I got the impression she was keeping something from me but when I prodded her she refused to say.

"Am I going to have to tickle it out of you?" I threatened playfully.

"You wouldn't." if she hadn't been pinned between me and the car she would have ran.

"Oh, I would." She looked slightly worried and then smiled and shrugged.

"If you do, I will just double your chores for tomorrow and not kiss you for a week."

"That's not fair."

"Well life just isn't fair now is it." she said cheekily and kissed me on the cheek. "Now let me down." I took a step back and she slid down the side of the car.

"And don't think I am kidding about getting to bed early, mister." She pointed her finger in my face. I just laughed.

"I'll see you tomorrow love." I said and gathered her in my arms to kiss the tip of her nose. She sighed and hugged me tighter.

"Goodnight Edward." I smiled at her and then detangled myself from her and went to get in my car. Bella waved from the porch and then went inside as I pulled out of the driveway and headed home.

Emmett was sitting on the couch when I got home, talking on the phone.

"I'll see you tomorrow. No you hang up first. No you." I about gagged. "I love you too baby. Ok bye." I leaned against the doorframe and cleared my throat. Emmett jumped about a foot off the couch.

"Not cool man." I grinned

"I couldn't resist." He glared at me.

"So, what did you and Bella do after the party?" I knew he was trying to goad me but I didn't bite.

"Actually, believe it or not, we had a race." He liked that.

"Awesome. What were the stakes?" he knew me to well.

"If I won Bella had to wax the all the cars in our garage, and if she won I had to work on the farm for a day."

"Sweet. So when does she get here. I have been wanting to wax the jeep." I hesitated slightly but Emmett caught it. "What?" I looked him in the eye and he figured it out in the next second.

"You lost?! The mighty Edward lost?!" his booming laugh echoed through the house. "Oh, I wish I could have seen your face. Remind me to give Bella a huge hug next time I see her." It was my turn to glare at him. "So what is she gonna have you do?"

"I have no idea but I need to get up early, so I'm gonna hit the sack." I turned and headed up the stairs.

"Night, Eddie." From his voice I could tell he was still laughing. I changed into some flannel sweats and got into bed, not even bothering to clean the gel out of my hair. Tomorrow was going to be interesting. I had seen Bella do some of her chores for the morning and even helped and they didn't look that difficult but I was a little scared of what she might make me do. One thing was for sure. I was definitely not gonna get a lot of sleep tonight.


	21. chapter 19

BPOV

BPOV

It took me forever to wake up. I usually had to set my alarm clock an hour before I actually had to be up. this morning was no different. I rolled over and hit the snooze 6 times before I actually got up and turned it off. The light in the bathroom hurt my eyes when I turned it on and I had to wait a few moments to let them adjust. My hair was a mess. I seriously looked like a white Tina Turner when I woke up in the morning, no matter what the state of my hair had been the night before. I dragged a brush through it and then pulled it up into a ponytail.

It took me several moments to remember that I didn't actually have to do anything today. I watched in the mirror as my face split into a huge grin. Today was Edward's day to work on the farm. I could think of several things for him to do but I couldn't be to mean. As I went back to my room to get dressed I could smell coffee wafting up from the kitchen.

"Ang, you are a total lifesaver." I called from the top of the stairs down the stairs. "I'll be down in a minute." Although it was early I could hear Walt and Linda moving around their room as I passed so I didn't worry about waking them. I finished dressing and headed downstairs, talking as I went.

"Ang, I might need your help today." I walked into the kitchen and straight for the coffee pot, continuing to talk as I poured myself a cup. "Edward lost a bet and gets to work on the farm for a day and I need some ideas of what things I can do to him."

"And what do you plan on doing to me?" I about jumped out of my skin. I turned around and saw Edward leaning against the door frame, sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Oh, hi Edward. What are you doing here?" he smirked.

"You told me to get here early remember."

"Oh yeah, I did huh?" Was all I could say. My brain was not quite awake enough to have any surprises this early in the day. He nodded and pushed away from the door jam. Setting his cup on the table, he started towards me at a deliberate pace.

"Edward, what are you doing?" I started to back around the kitchen island.

"Can't I hug my girlfriend good morning?"

"Usually I would say yes, but when you look like that I am gonna have to go with no."

"Look like what?" he asked innocently as he continued to stalk me around the kitchen.

"Well to be honest, you look like you are about to pounce on me."

"Ah, and how right you are." He stated simply and then launched himself across the distance separating us and grabbed me around the waist.

"If you don't behave I will have to think of something so awful you will stink for a week and no one will want to go near you. Myself included." He grunted.

"That is hardly fair Bella. All I was going to do was kiss you good morning."

"Uh-huh, sure. And my name is Gilligan."

"Your no fun Bella." He complained but his feelings obviously weren't hurt to bad because he still kissed me.

"So what is the plan?"

"Well you need to feed all the animals first. Chickens pigs horses cows. All of em."

"Ok that shouldn't take to long. I did that with you last time I was here I think I can handle it." I smirked slightly.

"We will just start with that for now and see how you hold up." he shook his head in my disappointment.

"Ye of little faith."

"Well, go one now, git." I shooed him out the door but he paused for a moment.

"Did you just tell me to git?" I threw the balled napkin up on the counter at him as he laughed and went out the door.

Today was going to be a wonderful day to just relax and watch someone else do my work. I was definitely going to enjoy it.

EPOV

I couldn't believe I had to do this. Its not that I didn't want to I just still couldn't believe that I had actually lost the race. I never lose. I had majorly underestimated Bella and it cost me. I would just have to try and enjoy the next few hours somehow. Honestly how hard could farm work be?

The animals took no time at all. I gave the horses some hay and grain, the pigs their slop which was disgusting. I have the chicken their feed and the cows only a little grain and hay. They sorta feed themselves in the field grazing all day.

"Ok what's next?"

"You can muck the horse stalls and the pig pen. Shovels and rakes are out back." She gave me a saucy grin and walked off. She was really enjoying this. I went around to the shed out behind the barn and grabbed a rake and shovel and headed back to the stables. It had turned out to be a nice day after all, in the low 80's. Bella had brought out a lawn chair and was sitting there reading a book in a t-shirt and shorts, in plain sight. She was really taking this to far.

The smell coming from the stables once I started cleaning and disturbing everything was awful. How Bella could stand to do this kind of stuff everyday was beyond me. Inside the barn was stiflingly hot and sweat was running down my face into my eyes. I took my shirt off and wiped my face with it, and after thinking a moment, decided to leave it off. I could feel the breeze coming through the barn and it was wonderful.

I thought for a moment, walked over to Bella and tossed my shirt on her, then walked back into the barn and continued shoveling and raking. Smiling to myself, I looked up for her reaction in time to see her take off her t-shirt, leaving her in her bathing suit halter. Now that just wasn't fair.

BPOV

I couldn't help myself. I had worn my bathing suit knowing that at some point I was going to get to hot, even in a t-shirt and shorts, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to taunt him. I also wanted to try and get a little bit of a tan. I usually burn like a lobster and then peel leaving me the same pasty white as I started out, but this summer I took precautions. I started tanning once a week in early June, and it was now almost August. I was very proud of the bronze tone my skin had acquired and I wasn't about to give it up so soon. I made sure to put a bit of sun-block on just in case.

"How you doing in there?" I called behind me. I heard a small grunt and laughed to myself. This was to fun.

I watched as Edward walked out of the stables, shovel and rake in hand, and head to the pig pen. I probably should have given him some boots to go tromping around the muck in, but I forgot. I started laughing at him as he realized how deep the mud and crap was. The mud came up to just about his ankles. I felt a little bad about his now ruined shoes, and watched a scowl cover his face as he registered the fact. In the next moment, he tried to pull his foot out of the mud and lost his balance, falling over backwards on his butt into the mud. I couldn't help it. I nearly collapsed with laughter and was gasping for air. I saw him stand up out of the corner of my eye and try to clean himself off which just made it worse because his entire lower half was covered in mud as well as his arms and hands and back.

"You think this is funny?" he had climbed out of the pen and come to stand in front of me. I took one look at him and started laughing all over again. once I could breath again I sat up straight in my chair and saw that he had a slightly mischievous look on his face and before I could react he turned and sat on top of me. I was so shocked that for a moment I just sat there. Then I started to fight, still laughing.

"Edward, get off me! I just bought these shorts." I tried to push him off but all my hands did was slide across the mud covering his back and I was starting to run out of air.

"I am quite comfortable here, thanks." As if to articulate his point, he wiggled his butt and back a bit.

"Seriously Edward, can you get off. I can't breath." He finally relented and I took a deep breath. I was covered in brown much all down my front. It was a good thing the swim top was old otherwise I would have been pissed. My clothes were completely ruined.

"Look at me. Do you see what you did? I look absolutely awful." he just laughed.

Don't be absurd Bella. You look fine. You are just a little muddy. As opposed to me who fell full length in it and can feel it soaking through my jeans."

"We should probably get cleaned off a little before you get back to work."

"More work? What else do I have to do?" his face looked like a 6 year old kid who got just got denied cookies.

"Yes there is more work. You still have to learn how to saddle and groom the horses." At this his eyes widened slightly.

"Bella, I…" he started but I didn't let him finish.

"Edward, we have been through this before. Nothing is going to happen." I looked him in the eyes. "Trust me." He hesitated for a moment but agreed.

"Alright. I think maybe we should get cleaned up first though." We went and grabbed the hose from the outside of the house and cleaned off as best we could. Since I was the least muddy, I went in the house and got a change of clothes for myself and tried to find something of Walt's for Edward, changed and went back outside.

"I tried to find something for you but they might be…Edward?" he wasn't on the front porch where I had left him. I continued out into the yard and saw him walking back from the truck in a clean pair of jeans and a tank.

"You came prepared. I am impressed."

"Yes well, since you were the one that decided the stakes, I figured something might happen." I stuck my tongue out at him.

We got to the stables and I told him where all the saddles blankets and brushes were and waited for him to bring them to Princess' stall.

"Ok blanket goes on first. Then the saddle." I told him how to cinch up the saddle and before long he was mounted and ready to go. I saddled up Sir Prize and we headed out into the field. Edward looked over at me after we had been riding a bit and grinned.

"How bout a race?" I stared at him.

"Edward, you were scared to saddle them up and now you wanna race?"

"Sure."

"Edward, I don't think you're rea…" but he didn't let me finish. He slapped the reins and kicked into Princess' side and took off. Me right on his heels. I knew he was going to hurt himself somehow. I just didn't think he was ready. But once I rode up next to him, I realized that he was doing quite well. His form was good and he was Princess her head and just letting her run. We went along for a bit and then stopped and dismounted to water the horses at the little stream.

"Where the heck did you learn to ride like that?" he shrugged.

"While you were…incapacitated…I came out here once or twice a week and Walt taught me how to ride."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you." I grinned.

"Do you understand what I mean about running through the fields now?"

"Oh yeah." We waited there for a bit longer and then mounted back up.

"Wanna race back?"

"Sure. What are the stakes?" I asked. He laughed.

"Oh no, I learned my lesson. How about a friendly race, no stakes?"

"Deal."

"Ok, ready…"

"Go!" I yelled and heeled Sir Prize into a gallop. I knew that Sir Prize was faster than Princess but I decided to hold him back just enough to let Edward win. Not that I would tell him that. He was absolutely beaming when we dismounted and led the horses into the stables to be groomed.

"Absolutely amazing. I never though I would actually enjoy riding horses."

"There isn't anything else like it." I agreed.

"So what now?"

"Now we get cleaned up and head in for dinner. Its 5 o-clock."

"Awesome. This time its my turn." I looked at him curious.

"Your turn for what?"

"To make dinner of course."

"And what are you gonna make?"

"Ah, that I can't tell you. You will just have to wait and be surprised."


	22. Chapter 20

BPOV

BPOV

The dinner was delicious. Edward had made a simple chicken gumbo but it was the best I had ever had. There didn't seem to be anything that he couldn't do. He left shortly after that, saying that he had something important to get to early the next morning and we said goodnight. I took Sir Prize out for our nightly ride. After all those weeks of not being able to ride, I was ready to go again but figured I had rode him hard enough earlier and so I settled on just trotting around the field for an hour or so.

I came back in and immediately went to bed. The next morning, I took care of all my chores, reveling in the fact that I could actually do them again by myself. I had a few things to take care of on the farm, but they wouldn't take that long and I could do them when I got back. First things first though. I needed some clothes. Any jeans that I had always got trashed in a hurry on the farm and I was always buying a new pair of jeans or 2 every few months. So I packed up in my new car and headed into town. I usually bought my jeans at the local country store if they had my size, so that is where I headed first. I walked out 20 minutes later with 2 pairs of jeans and a new shirt. I packed up and stuffed everything in my car just as my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Bella, I need you to meet me at the mall at noon." No "Hey Bella how's it goin" or "How's your day" she just got straight to the point.

"Hey, Rose. What's up?"

"I need you to meet me at the mall food court at noon." I chuckled.

"Yes, you already said that. Why?" she hesitated.

"Well, I can't tell you. Not yet anyways but just promise you will be there." I glanced down at my watch. It was 11:00.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really. See ya then." And she hung up on me. Something was definitely up. She was being way to cheerful. I sighed. Since I had an hour to spare and it didn't make sense to drive back to the farm just to come back into town so I figured I would hit the mall bookstore and kill some time.

I pulled into the nearest parking spot I could find, locked the doors and headed inside. I figured I needed a new book anyways, so I hit the Sci-Fi section. I browsed through and found something that caught my eye. The cover of the book had wolf and a girl with a microphone. The title was "_Kitty and the Midnight Hour_" **(a/n – the author is Carrie Vaughn, good books check em out)** the back cover said it was about werewolves and vampires. It sounded intriguing so bought it then walked over got an Orange Julius and settled down in a booth. I made it through chapter 1 when I heard a screech from across the mall.

"Bella!" I cringed. If she hadn't already spotted me, I might have run back out to my car. She was jumping up and down and almost sprinting across the food court. I expected this from Alice, and seeing as she was only 5 ft tall, it wasn't that scary. When Rose did it however, it was positively scary. Excluding the fact that she was 5' 8" without shoes (and she usually wore heels) she never acted like this. Not even when Macy's had a killer shoe sale. At this point I hadn't ruled out booking it back to the parking lot, but about that time, she planted herself across the booth from me. It wasn't until she sat down that I realized Jasper was with her.

"Ok, so what's this about?" I watched Rose look over at Jasper.

"Well, are you gonna tell her or am I?" I glanced between them.

"Tell me what?" I asked. Jasper hesitated.

"Well…" he paused and Rose threw her arms up in exasperation.

"Just tell her already!"

"Ok, ok. Calm down." This was starting to get irritating.

"Seriously, what's going on?"

"I want to ask Alice to marry me and I need your help." He said in a rush. I just stared at him.

"Bella?" he asked carefully. "Are you ok?"

"You are going to ask Alice to marry you?" I checked to make sure I had heard right.

"Yes."

"AH!" I jumped up and squealed. I actually squealed. I never thought I would ever do that.

"I know!" Rose yelled, jumping up and pushing Jasper out of the booth.

"Oh. My. Gosh! I can't believe this! I mean I knew it was going to happen sooner or later but…ah! This is so cool!" I exclaimed to Jasper and threw my arms around him in a huge hug. He laughed as he hugged me back.

"When were you gonna do it? How? Where?" I asked excitedly.

"Well, that is where I am going to need your help."

"Anything. I'll do anything I promise." He laughed again.

"Here's the deal. I wanted to do it tonight but I don't know if I have time."

"What were you planning to do?" I asked, curious. If I hadn't been looking right at him, I would have missed the slight blush that colored his cheeks.

"Well, I wanted to propose to her where we had our first kiss." He explained the rest of the plan to us and I was almost in tears. It was so romantic.

"I think we can get that done tonight, if Rose heads out now. There is still plenty of time." I swear if Jaspers grin got any bigger, his face would split in half.

"Ok, Rose, I need you to get Alice out of town for a bit then. Today is her day off and I have a lot of things to pick up and I don't want to run the risk of her seeing me. Bella, I am going to need your help setting everything up." after a few more minutes of planning, we all headed in our different directions. Rose decided she was going to take Alice shopping in Seattle for a special dress. Of course Al wasn't going to know why it was special. Jasper and I went over the list of things he needed to pick up and we were off.

"Rose remember, you need to have her back here for dinner at 8." Jasper told her.

"Will do. See you guys later!" she said with a wave and headed out.

"I am so excited!" I just couldn't keep it in. Jasper laughed.


	23. Chapter 205

Hey all this is just a bunch of fluff lol I just figured I would satisfy your curiosity lol not really a chapter

Hey all this is just a bunch of fluff lol I just figured I would satisfy your curiosity...not really an actual chapter.

**APOV**

A day of shopping! Ad I didn't even have to ask. Rose just showed up at my house and dragged me away. Not that I am complaining. I love shopping. I never understood why Bella always fought me so much when I brought her along. What is better than getting new clothes and accessories and shoes. Nothing in my book. So when Rose demanded I be dressed in 30 minutes for a last minute shopping trip to Seattle, I was ready in 15.

We were there in no time, and the first spot we hit was Macy's. The mall here was huge, and I just grinned. We headed straight for the juniors department bypassing the dresses. We always saved them for last. There was no better way to end a shopping trip than with a brand new dress. Or 4.

For the next 3 hours we tried on shirts, jeans, skirts, halters pretty much everything under the sun. We each made it out with 6 new outfits before we headed over to dresses. We searched rack after rack for the perfect dresses. Rose didn't seem to interested in one for her, she just kept throwing anything with color my way and pushing me towards the dressing rooms. One of the dresses was a simple black with spaghetti straps **(a/n - picture in profile)** that came to just above my knees. In an instant I fell in love with it. Rose agreed with me when I walked out to show her.

"Perfect!" she almost screamed, causing the girl in front of the mirror at the end of the dressing room hall to jump. I was grinning from ear to ear. After that we both tried on a few more dresses, but in the end, we each only got one. I got the black one, and Rose got a black and white strapless one that came to the middle of her thighs. She was always a little more…daring with her clothes. But she managed to make everything look great.

"Holy crap. We gotta go." She said grabbing my arm and dragging me back to the car.

"Woah, what's the hurry."

"I, uh, I have a date with Emmett tonight and I didn't realize what time it was and we are running really late." I looked at my phone and saw that it was almost 6. The drive home was nerve wracking. Rose drove like a maniac (well she usually does, but this was worse). I am surprised we didn't get pulled over. We pulled into the driveway of my house with a screech and Rose, still in maniac mode, literally dragged me up the stairs.

"Rose, what is your problem? Are you trying to pull my arm out of its socket?"

"I need you to take a shower and get ready as fast as possible."

"Why?" I was seriously confused now.

"Because I forgot to tell you earlier that it's a double date with me and Emmett and you and Jasper."

"Rose, seriously what is going on?"

"It was kind of a last minute thing. I am sorry I didn't tell you earlier." She kept going on as if I hadn't spoken, all the while shoving me into the bathroom and throwing towels at me.

"Can I at least shower by myself, Rose? Seriously what has gotten into you?" she seemed to realize that she had been going nuts because she grinned.

"Sorry, Alice. I don't know what came over me. I just don't want to be late for this date. I already had to postpone it so we could go shopping and I don't want to disappoint Emmett again."

"It's ok Rose. Now seriously, get out of my bathroom." I shoved her out. I showered quickly because it was obvious Rose was in a hurry, but I made sure to be thorough. I got out 15 minutes later dried off and threw on the sweatpants and tank that Rose and thrown in.

Since my hair was so short, there weren't a lot of things I could do with it, but I still loved it this length. Cropped short all around with a little length on the top to give it body. I threw some gel in it and that was that. Now for the make up.

"Rose what time are they picking us up at?" I yelled threw the door.

"I told them we would be ready by 7:30." She yelled back. I looked at my phone again. crap, it was already 7:15. I threw my makeup on in a hurry and dashed out to the bedroom to find an outfit. As I started going through my closet, Rose cam in and stopped me.

"You are wearing this, remember?" she said holding up the little black dress.

"I am?"

"Why else do you think we went shopping today." She grinned. Once I had the dress on and zipped up, I noticed that Rose wasn't ready.

"Rose, why aren't you dressed?" she looked down, her face drawn out in a sad frown.

"Emmett just canceled on me."

"Oh Rose, its Emmett. I'm sure it's nothing serious. Ill call Jasper and…"

"NO!" she yelled. "I mean. It's ok really. You guys go ahead and have fun. He should be here any minute." To punctuate her words, the doorbell rang.

"Hello?" I heard Jasper call from downstairs.

"We'll be right down!" Rose called back then looked at me. "Well, lets go." I put on some black strappy stilettos so I was watching the stairs as we walked down. How people could walk down a whole flight of stairs and not watch where their feet were going was beyond me. Once I got to the bottom I finally looked up. Jasper was standing in front of me decked out in a full tux, right down to the shoes. I could only stare.

"You look gorgeous." He said once I looked him in the eyes. The way he was looking back at me made me blush.

"Yes, well you clean up pretty good yourself."

"Ready to go?"

"If I say yes, will you tell me where we are going?"

"Nope." He said on a laugh. I made a face but linked my arm through his and he escorted me to the car. We drove for a bit, and the not knowing what was going on was really getting to me.

"Please tell me where we are going?" I begged but he just grinned unrepentantly. After another several minutes, we pulled up to the cute little seafood restaurant that we had our first date at. This puzzled me. He only brought me here for special occasions and I know I didn't forget anything. he opened my door and escorted my inside.

"Reservation for Hale please."

"Oh, yes. Right this way Mr. Hale." She lead us to "our" table by the window with a view of the water. It was beautiful, especially with the sunset in the background. We ordered our usual and spent the next hour talking and laughing. I loved him so much. he was wonderful and caring and he always understood me. It was great.

"Ready to go?" I came out of my thoughts and realized that we had been there for almost 2 hours.

"Yep." I grinned. We went out to the car and drove around for a bit before he pulled us up to the docks.

"What are we doing here?"

"It's a nice night. I thought we could go for a walk on the beach."

"Jasper, look at my shoes, I can't go for a walk on the beach in these." He laughed.

"I guess I'll just have to carry you." And with that he swooped me up against his chest and carried me down the beach.

"What has gotten into you?" I asked him, perplexed. He was acting so strange. Not that I minded, but this just wasn't like him.

"I don't know what you are talking about." We started heading back up the stairs to the lookout decks. There was no moon tonight, so everything was dark. I could barely see the outline of the railing. Jasper set me down in the middle of the deck.

"Ok, stay here and close your eyes."

"Close my eyes? I can't see anything as it is, why do I need to close my eyes."

"Alice, please."

"Ok, ok." I closed my eyes and stood there for several minutes, getting slightly impatient.

"Jazz, I know I've asked you like 20 times already, but will you please tell me what is going on?" I could feel him standing in front of me and after a moment he took my hands.

"Ok, open your eyes." I did what he said and gasped. The railings were lined with candles and there were rose petals covering the entire deck.

"Jasper…I…How…You…" I was speechless, which didn't happen often. He just grinned.

"May I have this dance?" he offered me his hand and at the same time music started playing from a CD player I hadn't noticed. _So Close_ by _Jon Mclaughlin_ started playing and he took me in his arms and we started waltzing across the deck.

You're in my arms

And all the world is gone

The music playing on

For only two

So close together

And when I'm with you

So close to feeling alive

A life goes by

Romantic dreams must die

So I bid mine goodbye

And never knew

So close was waiting

Waiting here with you

And now, forever, I know

All that I want is to hold you

So close

So close to reaching

That famous happy and

Almost believing

This one's not pretend

Now you're beside me

And look how far we've come

So far

We are

So close...

Oh, how could I face the faceless days

If I should lose 75

you now?

We're so close to reaching

That famous happy ending

Almost believing

This one's not pretend

Let's go on dreaming

Though we know we are

So close

So close, and still

So far...

It was so wonderful, just the 2 of us. We danced that way for several minutes.

"I love you so much." he whispered in my ear. The song had ended and we just stood there. I pulled back a bit to look in his eyes and smiled.

"What brought all this on? Not that I am complaining." He smiled and then did something that completely caught me off guard. He got down on one knee.

"Jasper, what are you doing?"

"The last 3 years have been the most wonderful time in my entire life. I never thought I would meet anyone as perfect and wonder as you are. There are no words to describe how much I love you, Ali. Will you marry me?" he pulled out a tiny black box from his pocket and presented the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen. For the second time that night I was speechless. I knew what I wanted to say I just couldn't make my mind wrap around what had just happened. Then all of the sudden it came at me in a rush. I squealed and threw my arms around my fiancé.

"YES! Oh My Gosh, Yes!" he laughed, wrapped his arms around me, picking me up and spinning me in circles. By the time we stopped spinning, we were both laughing and kissing each other happily. That was definitely the best possible ending this wonderful night.


	24. Chapter 21

BPOV

BPOV

I couldn't believe this was actually happening. I mean, I knew that Alice and Jasper would get married eventually, but the last few weeks were absolutely insane. Surprisingly, Alice didn't want a large wedding, so they were having a small ceremony with just family and friends at our dads farm. It didn't take her that long to find a dress, because she already had one picked out at the local bridal shop. She even had a separate bank account that she called her "Bridal Account" that she put money into every month for the last 2 years so she was able to pay for the dress upfront. The ceremony itself was still several months away though. And even though everything was taken care of and ready to go, Alice kept saying that she didn't want to rush things. For the past several weeks everything has been about the wedding and now that there wasn't anything else to do but wait for the big day, things were pretty much back to normal.

Except for Edward.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was off. His mind always seemed to be somewhere else. At one point while we were at the mall I caught him staring out across the food court and when I asked him what he was thinking about, he said it was nothing but acted like he was hiding something. It all was just so, not Edward. Which worried me. But I tried not to think about it to hard. Maybe he just wasn't getting enough sleep. Or maybe it was just my imagination.

"Bella." She sounded impatient.

"Huh?"

"I have been calling your name for the last 10 minutes. Seriously, what's up?"

"Nothing, I'm just thinking." She tilted her head to the side slightly and looked at me over at me over the table that we were sitting at. She was pouring over wedding stuff that was already taken care of while I chowed down on some reheated pizza from last night.

"What about?"

"Nothing." I really didn't feel like elaborating on what that stuff was. No reason to worry her with things that weren't her problem.

"Bull. Something is bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me."

"I know something is bothering you Bella, whether you want to tell me about it or not. But stop lying to yourself." I looked over at her and just couldn't bring myself to put a damper on her wedding bliss. She was glowing. There was still almost 4 months till her wedding and I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"It's nothing Alice. What do you need?" I asked changing the subject. It worked.

"I don't know what to do about the bridesmaid dresses. I kind of like the strapless look but it depends on the style and what the bodice looks like or whether I want it to have an Empire waistband and I don't know if I want them to be knee or floor length or whether or not I want them to have pleats. And I can't decide on a color. Would you rather wear Apple, Rose Petal, Crimson, Wine, Chambord, or Persimmon?" By this time my mind was about ready to explode.

"I don't even know what half those colors look like Alice. How am I supposed to choose one?"

"Here is a color guide. I am leaning more towards Crimson. I like how it stands out but the Chambord is nice too."

"I don't know Alice. Why don't you ask Rose? She knows more about this kind of stuff than I do and I am sure whatever she picks will be just fine." Speak of the devil. At that moment the front door burst open and Rose came sailing through it announcing her presence with a squeal.

"You guys are never going to guess what happened last night!" she paused for dramatic effect, and Alice being Alice couldn't take the silence for long.

"Well…What happened?" Rose could hardly stand still she was so excited and suddenly thrust her left hand out in front of her to show off the glittering rock now resting on her ring finger.

"Emmett proposed!" she squealed and then her and Alice were jumping up and down and hugging each other hard enough to break bones.

"OH MY GOSH!" Alice screamed. "How? I need details. Now."

"Well, we went out to dinner in Seattle and afterwards we went for a little walk because there was a little park a couple blocks away and when we got outside the restaurant there was a horse drawn carriage out front and so we decided to take that to the park instead of walking and when we got there we took the little path to the center of the park and then Emmett got all serious telling me how much he loved me and all of the sudden all the trees lit up and he got down on one knee. I almost fainted."

"Aww, Rose that is so romantic. Who knew Emmy had it in him." We all laughed and then Alice gasped.

"Oh my gosh, Rose. We so have to do a double wedding! This is going to be so awesome! AH!" and with that they were off, leaving me in the dust. Alrighty then. I still had an hour or so before Edward was going to pick me up for our date so I decided to go to the mall. There was a sale at Maurice's that I wanted to check out and I figured if I found something cute, I could wear it on our date tonight. I grabbed my keys off the counter and yelled at Rose and Al that I was heading out (not that they heard me) and headed out to my car. I still smile every time I get in it and hear that purr as I turn the ignition. It will never get old. I was just pulling out of the driveway when my phone started vibrating. I looked down at the caller id and smiled before flipping it open and answering it.

"Hello?"

"Hi miss. I would like to order 8 extra-large pepperoni pizzas with olives and garlic bread please." I laughed.

"Hey. What's doing?"

"What's doing? What kind of greeting is that?"

"I got it from one of my books. I thought I'd give it a try." I defended myself. He laughed.

"You sound like a wanna-be gangster."

"Soo that would be a no."

"Uh, that would be a heck no." I laughed again.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" I asked him while I made a left hand turn onto the main road.

"Well, that is actually why I was calling. Can we postpone our date for an hour or so? I had some last minute plans come up."

"Sure. What time should I be ready?"

"8 should be ok. That work for you?" I looked at my watch. It was 6 now.

"That's fine for me."

"Alright. I'll see you then. I love you." I smiled.

"I love you too." With that we hung up. I got to the mall a few minutes later and headed straight for the sale racks but nothing especially caught my interest. Disappointed, I still glanced over the clearance racks and actually found some cute shirts. I took everything up to the counter and walked out a few minutes later with a bag full of new clothes only to stop dead.

Across the mall in one of the restaurant windows, I saw Edward stand from a table and hug some girl. I watched as they sat back down and then Edward reached over and grabbed her hand across the table. That was enough for me. I went directly to my car and headed home, tears streaming down my face.

I knew it was too good to be true. I really did. Everything was just to perfect with him. And especially with his behavior lately, I am surprised I didn't figure it out earlier. I bypassed Alice and Rose in the kitchen and headed straight to my room. Edward was going to pick me up in just an hour for our date, and I just caught him with another woman. I couldn't think of a good enough reason to cancel at the last minute. If I said I felt sick, he would just show up with some chicken soup and ice cream, but I really didn't know if I could handle sitting through an entire dinner after what I had just seen.

"Bella, are you ok?" I heard Alice ask through the door. I must have been crying louder than I thought.

"Everything is fine Alice." I heard her pause for a moment.

"Alright then. Rose and I are going to head over to her house for a couple hours. Call me if you need anything."

"Thanks Al." I waited till I heard the front door open and close and a car start up before I headed into the bathroom to check on the damage. My eyes were red and swollen and when I looked at the clock I realized I only had 15 minutes before Edward was here. I did a quick sweep across my eyes and touched up my makeup and then just grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater. No need to dress up. The doorbell rang right as I was slipping my feet into my shoes and I walked over and opened the door slowly to reveal his beautiful face.

"Ready to go?" he asked after he gave me a quick kiss.

"Yeah, just give me a second." I grabbed my purse and keys, and took a deep breath before heading out the door. I walked right past him, not even waiting for him to catch up so he could open my door and got in the car. He seemed surprised for a second, but recovered and came around the front of the car and got in.

"Are you ok, Bella? You seem a little…distracted."

"I'm fine. Are we gonna go?" I said shortly. He looked at me for a moment.

"Yeah we can go. Are you sure you are alright?" he said as he started the car.

"I'm fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I asked, exasperated.

"Bella, if you aren't up to it we can stay home."

"No it's fine. I'm kinda hungry." The drive to the restaurant was silent, mostly because I couldn't think of anything to say. We got to the restaurant a few minutes later and the hostess seated us. Edward reached across the table for my hand but I pulled it away.

"Bella, I know something's up. Talk to me."

"Nothing is wrong." I tried to tell him but he obviously wasn't convinced.

"Bella, why wont you tal…" he started but I didn't let him finish.

"Oh my gosh. This is totally _Legally Blonde_. If you are going to break up with me, just get to it already. You know what. Forget it. I can't do this." I said as I stood up and ran out of the restaurant. I could hear him calling my name but I ignored it and headed down the street but he caught up with me a minute later. How could I think I could possible handle this? I just wanted to go home and cry.

"Bella, what has gotten into you?" he asked stepping in front of me blocking my way and reaching for my arm.

"Just leave me alone!" I yelled at him.

"Bella, why can't you just tell me what's wrong?"

"I saw you this afternoon."

"What do you mean you saw me? Where?"

"At Johnny Corinos with some girl. She was cute, I hope you are happy with her." I started around him but he stopped me again.

"Oh, Bella. Do you really think I would hurt you like that? I love you to much."

"Oh yes, I could tell by the way you were smiling and laughing with her that you were thinking of me the entire time. Just give it up, Edward." I spat then turned and walked away.

"Bella." He said my name so firmly that I stopped my retreat. "Do you honestly think I would cheat on you?"

"Well, then who is she?" I hated to sound like the jealous girlfriend but I had to know.

"That was my cousin Rachel."

"Your cousin? Yeah you were really acting like cousins. I always hold hands with my cousins."

"Bella, she was driving up to Canada for a job and wanted to make a last minute stop and say hi tell us she was getting married and I was the only one that wasn't working. I am sorry I didn't tell you when I talked to you earlier but it honestly didn't occur to me." well didn't I feel like a jerk. I couldn't think of anything else to say after that and after a moment I burst into tears.

"I am so sorry Edward. I didn't know. I just…" I couldn't finish and I didn't want to face him after that outburst so I turned and ran. I didn't know where I was going and I knew that he would probably eventually catch me but I didn't care. I just needed to get away but my knees wouldn't hold me up.

I started to sink down on my knees on the sidewalk but before I hit the ground, I felt strong arms came around me and hold me up. He didn't say anything to me as I cried just held me.

"I'm sorry. I'm sor…" I hiccupped once the tears subsided.

"Bella, there is nothing to be sorry for. You couldn't have known."

"Why are you always so understanding? I don't deserve you."

"Don't talk like that."

"Why not? You could do so much better than me."

"Bella, I couldn't live without you." he ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "This is definitely not going how I planned it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Bella, I love you. I love you more than life itself. I don't know how I lived before I met you." he paused for a moment as if to figure out what else to say and surprised me speechless by getting down on one knee.

"Isabella Marie Swan. Will you marry me?" I don't know if it was the sleep that I didn't get the night before or the outburst I just displayed a second ago but one moment I was looking down at Edward and the next all I saw was darkness.


	25. chapter 22

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

I came to with something cold on my head. For a while all I could think about was the fact that I was laying on something very soft and comfortable, but then things started to come to me in snatches. I had a flash of Edward with a girl at some restaurant. Then us in his car, me running down the street and then it all hit me. my eyes popped open and I sat up abruptly then squeezed my eyes shut again and put my hand on my head as my vision flashed and I felt as if I would pass out. Again.

"Hey. It's ok. Your safe." I heard that soothing voice as I was gently helped into a sitting position and felt something wet on my lips. I drank the water greedily and then peeked my eyes open again. Edward was sitting on the edge of my bed with such a worried look on his face that it made me feel guilty.

"How are you feeling?"

"I, uh. I don't really know." I shook my head slightly to chase away the rest of the fogginess. "What happened?"

"well, after I proposed you passed out cold on the side walk. It took all I had to keep you from cracking your head on the concrete." With that he smiled slightly. "If I had know that was how you were going to react, I would have asked you in a bounce house or something. Would have been more entertaining." I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed.

"At least you are feeling better. You were out for close to 3 hours. I was just getting ready to call my dad. I still might. I have never seen you faint like that before. Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah. I think I was just tired. I'll be ok." Now that I was awake I realized that I hadn't used the bathroom before our date. I tried to get up but he wouldn't let me.

"Just take it easy and lay here for a bit longer." I rolled my eyes.

"I will be fine walking around for a few minutes."

"I think you need to stay in bed." By this point I felt like my bladder was going to explode.

"Ok seriously, let me up. I haven't wet the bed since I was like 6 and I don't intend break that record anytime soon." I said as I pushed him out of the way. He was leaning on the doorjamb of the bedroom when I came back down the hall.

"You could have just told me."

"Yeah right. You would have called your dad for a bedpan and cut a hole in my mattress." At that he laughed."

"Oh, Bella. Thank goodness you're awake. How are you feeling?" my growling stomach answered that question.

"Is there anything to eat?"

"Oh, I called dad about a half hour ago and he said he would pick up some pizza. Sound good?" It sounded heavenly and couldn't arrive soon enough. Thank goodness dad walked in 10 minutes later with 4 large pepperoni and olive pizzas in tow. Everyone dug in. me and the guys were watching TV in the living room while Rose and Alice were in the kitchen going over some more wedding details, which brought back the memory of Edward kneeling in front of me on the sidewalk.

I stole a quick glance at him next to me, his arm wrapped securely around my shoulders while we sat on the couch. As if he knew I was staring, he looked down and smiled at me and in that moment, I knew that I couldn't live without him.

"Wanna go for a quick walk?" I asked.

"Bella I think you should take it easy for a little bit."

"Ok, fine." I pouted. "Can I talk to you on the porch then?"

"Sure." Once we got outside and the front door was closed, he turned to me.

"Bella, is something wrong? You seem…distracted."

"Did you mean it?" I blurted before I could think of anything else to say.

"Mean what?" he asked, confused. I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"When you said you loved me and couldn't live without me. Did you mean it?" I don't know why, but at that moment I couldn't look him in the eye so I fiddled with the zipper on my jacket. After a moment, he took my chin in his fingers and tilted my head till I met his eyes.

"I meant every word Bella. With all of my heart." He smiled a little then. "If I ask you to marry me, are you going to pass out on me again?" I grinned and shook my head.

"Bella, will you marry me?" he asked as he pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a diamond ring. I barely glanced at it as I threw my arms around his neck and grinned.

"Yes."

**Hey guys this is just a transition chapter. I promise the next one will be good. It is also going to be the last chapter. I might do a sequel later on, but I didn't want the story to just go on without end lol. But I promise you will like the last chapter!**


	26. Chapter 23 Wedding!

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Wedding Day

EPOV

"Dude, why did I ever agree to wear this?" Emmett complained as he tried to stretch his arms in the matching tuxes we were all wearing.

"You agreed to wear it because Rose would have killed you had her wedding not been perfect. If you ask me, you like looking like a sissy." Jasper replied before ducking under Emmett's right hook just in time.

"Seeing as we are all wearing the same tux, that would make you one too, Jasper." I laughed at Emmett's smug expression as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. I glanced at the clock at the wall clock and sighed impatiently. We still had 15 minutes till the wedding started was supposed to start, and even though I am usually a patient person, that 15 minutes wouldn't pass fast enough for me. I went back to studying the wall paper but a few minutes later I couldn't help but glance at the clock again.

"Dude, chill." This came from Emmett but one look at him and I could tell he was anxious as well. At that moment Charlie poked his head through the door.

"You boys ready?"

BPOV

"I think I am gonna to fall over." I put my hand on my forehead.

"Deep breaths, Bella. It'll be fine." this came from Angela, the only actual bridesmaid in the wedding since Rose Alice and I were all getting married. She stood in front of me in her simple but elegant red bridesmaid dress and tried to calm me down.

We were all just minutes away from marrying the men of our dreams, and I could barely stand. Rose and Alice however, were having no such qualms. Rose looked absolutely stunning, as usual. Her strapless dress was form fitting with sequins in the form of roses that trailed down the left hand side and gathered at the hip to flare out slightly at the bottom.

Alice's dress fit her personality just as well as Rose's did hers. It was a simple mid-calf length dress with sheer straps that were sewn into an empire waist. Both looked absolutely stunning. I still felt like a penguin next to a swan around them, but I absolutely loved my dress.

The entire front was just plain white with a red trim on the top. The back however split down the middle and the train came out from underneath, the same color as the trim on the front. The minute I saw it on the rack, I stopped looking. I knew that this was the one.

All of our bouquets were the same. 3 white roses and 2 red with babies breath sticking through and 3 green leaves. Our wedding planner, Jennifer, poked her head through the door just then.

"5 minutes girls. And I must say, you all look absolutely beautiful." She gave us a brilliant smile, full of sincerity. She may have been a professional, but she seemed genuinely happy for each of us and that helped calm me some. Dad came in at that point, and almost immediately started tearing up.

"Daddy, please don't cry." I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around him in as much of a bear hug I could manage.

"My little girls are all grown up. I missed so much of your life when I left and now that I've come back, it's like I am losing you all over again."

"Dad, you will still have us. That will never change. And it's not like we are moving overseas. It will be just like it has been except we'll have different last names." Alice tried to reassure him.

"I know, it's just hard to see both of you getting married. And you Rose." He motioned her to join in our little group hug. "I haven't even known you that long, and I feel as if I'm losing you too." By the time Jennifer came in again, we were all in tears.

"Oh, go on now, your all gonna get me started if you don't quit." We all laughed as we watched her tear up a little.

"Are you girls ready." We all nodded and swiped at our eyes, thankful that Alice insisted that we all wear waterproof makeup. We grabbed our bouquets and headed the door. The place that we were holding the wedding was a huge dance hall called The Majestic. The ceiling was held up by huge pillars lining the dance floor. The tables were set up around the room, and everything was arranged so that instead of having to set up for the reception afterwards, the guests could just go straight to the buffet table because they already had their seats at the regular tables.

Alice, Rose and I all lined and watched as Angela walked down the isle to stand to the far left of the stage. Since Rose didn't have a father to walk her down the isle and Jasper was on stage with Emmett and Edward, dad offered to walk all 3 of us down.

Dad walked Rose down first and I watched Emmett grin. He was just as grateful as Rose when dad offered to walk her down the isle. The one thing that put a damper on the wedding plans was that she didn't have anyone to walk her down the isle. She told me and Alice one night shortly after Edward proposed that she felt lonely having no one to give her away and that's when Alice and I broached the subject to dad and he agreed wholeheartedly. When we finally told Rose, she cried.

Alice went next and I had to laugh as Emmett clapped Jasper so hard on the shoulder that he staggered forward a step before catching himself. Snickers rang throughout the audience but he just grinned.

Before I knew what was happening, my dad was standing in front of me and offering his arm. I took it and smiled and we started down the isle. I tried to focus as much as possible on not tripping in the death trap of a shoe I was wearing while looking straight ahead. I looked up to see Edwards gaze on me and I knew that he knew what I was doing and trying not to laugh. He stepped forward as my dad and I made it to the front of the isle. Unfortunately, when he took my hand and turned on that crooked smile of his, I momentarily lost my concentration and stumbled into him.

"You ok?" he whispered for only me to hear. I looked into his smiling face and nodded, not caring at that moment about anything else except me and Edward. He righted me and then took my hand and led me up to the where Jasper Alice Emmett Rose and the pastor were waiting.

About the only part of the ceremony I actually remember was the end. I was in a kind of daze the whole time, and when it was time to say the vows, Edward had to squeeze my hands and nudge me slightly. I realized I had been sort of day dreaming and blushed when he gave me a reassuring smile. And then the part I had been waiting for. Granted I had kissed Edward many times before, but this was our first kiss as husband and wife and that knowledge made it so much more special.

"I now present Mr. and Mrs. Edward and Bella Cullen, Mr. and Mrs. Emmett and Rosalie Cullen and Mr. and Mrs. Jasper and Alice Hale. Boys, you may kiss your brides." I was grinning obscenely, and I knew that Rose and Alice probably were too, as Edward leaned down and kissed me gently. He pulled back and paused a moment as we held each others gaze and then he smiled and kissed me again, this time in earnest. Cheers went up in the church as I wrapped my arms around his neck and he picked me up off my feet and swung me around in a circle. We broke apart grinning and laughing and then he swept me off my feet and carried me back down the isle. I glanced behind me to see that Emmett and Jasper had Rose and Alice in similar positions.

"You planned that didn't you?" I whispered in his ear and he chuckled, know what I meant in an instant.

"Emmett was all for throwing you girls over our shoulders and running out the side door, but Jasper and I talked him around." I laughed.

"I'm glad. Although it would have been fun to see Rose's reaction to _that_." An expression crossed his face quickly and I instantly knew something was up.

"What else are you planning?" I asked but he just smiled and kissed me again. We reached the back of the dance hall and the girls and I went into one of the rooms to bustle our dresses so we weren't stepping on them all night. The wedding planner and her assistants were setting up the bridal party table at the front of the room on the stage so we had a few minutes. But the moment we walked back out and Jennifer gave us the ok to be seated; I was swept back off my feet and carried back up the isle by a pair of strong arms that I would never get tired of.

We were served at the table and I had to remember to thank Jennifer for recommending the caterer. Angela stood up after a while and clicked her knife on her glass to get everyone's attention. When that didn't work, she whistled as she would have if she were trying to get the horses' attention and the rest of us at the table laughed.

"What?" she said at our laughs. "The knife wasn't working." Then she turned towards the guests.

"Thank you all for coming today. I figured that since I am the only one sitting at the table that didn't get married, I had better make a heck of a toast. Wish me luck." Everyone laughed. "I have known Bella Rose and Alice for years. We went to elementary school together when we were younger and I don't think there was a more inseparable group. We did everything together. I would go into some of our more interesting adventures but I think some of you have flights to catch. I think we always knew that we would be best friends no matter what and promised that no matter what happened we would never leave each other in the dust.

"Our sophomore year is when Alice met jasper and I think we were all a little concerned that she would be consumed by her first boyfriend, but he just became another member of the posse. It was like he was always there and they have been together ever since.

"Rose, fell into the trap next. I'm pretty sure she wasn't expecting to walk into Emmett's shop and walk out with a date when she needed parts for her car. And I don't think that there is anyone out there that can handle Rose. Her and Emmett were made for each other.

"And Bella. The minute I saw you and Edward together I knew. I just knew. I know how hard you tried to make it look like he annoyed the heck out of you, but it was obvious you both fell in love the moment you set eyes on each other. It was just a matter of time.

"Most people would ask how I could lose my 3 best friends like this, but the truth is, I'm not losing anything. I am gaining 3 of the most wonderful guys in the world as would-be brothers. And to me, it just doesn't get any better than that. So this toast is to you guys." She raised her glass as I looked down the line and saw that I wasn't the only one with tears in her eyes. Even Rose was crying. All 3 of us stood up and gave her the biggest group hug ever and we were all thankful, again, that we had waterproof makeup on.

Once the waterworks stopped and everyone had eaten their fill it was time to throw the bouquets and all 3 of us girls did it at once. We counted to 3 and threw them over our heads and then turned around and laughed at the scene of girls fighting to catch them. I laughed as Angela caught Roses, and one of Edwards cousins caught Alice's. I looked around to see who had caught mine and my heart almost melted at the little girl that walked forward shyly. She was one of Barbs nieces that was visiting for a couple weeks and was absolutely adorable.

The guys threw the garters next and though they were a little less competitive than the girls, it was still funny to watch. One of Edwards friends from high school had come in a kilt and caught Jaspers. Emmett tried to throw his high enough that he could run over and catch it himself and almost bowled over the entire group but didn't get there in time and lost out to Ben, one of the dancers from Rose and Alice's class (and one of the many guys eyeballing Angela, albeit more shyly than the others). Jacob caught Edwards.

As was tradition, the guys that caught the garters danced with the bride and the girls that caught the bouquets danced with the grooms. Everyone paired up as the music started. I felt absolutely dwarfed by Jacob, even in my heels. The kid was like 6'5" and built like grizzly. Edward was only about 6'1" and when I danced with him I didn't feel like I was going to be crushed. But Jacob wouldn't hurt a fly so I wasn't to worried.

Netta, Barbs niece, had a huge grin on her face and squealed as Edward past us with her in his arms and then dipped her to the ground. Rose and Alice looked like they were having fun with their dance partners, and the expression on Emmett's face as he kept throwing glances at Ben made me laugh because his jealousy was completely misplaced. For one thing, Rose had just pledged her love and life to him just moments ago. Second, Ben was obviously smitten with Angela, and third, even if he was interested in Rose, he was about 2 inches shorter than her without her heels. Alice laughed at something kilt-man Duncan said but Jasper didn't have a temper like Emmett. He just grinned.

Since there were 3 different brides instead of 1, we decided to change things up a bit with the father daughter dance. Just for kicks, I suggested we do the hokey pokey and got gasps of horror from Alice and Rose. But we didn't stray far from that idea. Instead of dancing with all 3 of us separately, and trying to dance with all 3 of us together, we all agreed on one specific dance. So when the music started, we all lined up and got ready for the electric slide. It took forever to talk Dad into, but I knew he was having fun as people started to join us on the dance floor. Pretty soon, about two thirds of the guests were on the dance floor with us, including kids, parents and grandparents.

All of us did what is called the money dance, where people got to pay to dance with the bride or groom. I had a small purse that I had at tied around my wrist but Edward was not so lucky. He had money sticking out of ever possible place of his shirt, pockets, even his shoes. He had taken off his tux jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and it looked as if there was money sticking out of there as well. I had to laugh. Jasper and Emmett looked to be in the same positions.

The rest of the night was nothing but dancing and having fun. One of the best parts of the night had to be when Emmett Jasper and Edward all got up in the middle of the floor and lip synced along with "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, air guitar, head banging and all. Pretty soon it was time to head out so we could finish getting packed for our honeymoons. Since we had gotten married at the same time we decided to go all the way and were all honeymooning on Oahu under one condition. Each couple was staying in a different hotel. That way we could still hang out during the day, but could have some privacy and time to ourselves.

I had speculated earlier that they guys had something planned, and I was proven right. We were all lined up to go through the bird seed line, as was tradition, when all 3 guys looked at each other then grabbed us girls and threw us other their shoulders, running through the "tunnel" with us laughing and wiggling all the way. Edward set me down in the Volvo, stuffing me dress in as safely as possible so as not to damage it, and the walked around to the drivers' side and got in. We waved to everyone as he turned the key in the ignition and looked over at me. The love that I had seen in his eyes all day was so concentrated and intense in the small confines of the car that I had to take a moment to catch my breath. He flashed me that crooked smile and leaned in to kiss me lightly.

"Ready?" he asked. I grinned.

"Definitely."

**The End**

**Haha sorry I couldn't help with the cliché "the end" because if I decide to do a sequel, it won't be "the end" will it lol. I might decide to change a few things once I reread when I am actually awake it but I think I like it the way it is. Let me know what you think and if you find any mistakes lol I'm sure there are plenty. Tear lol I love you guys!**

**Oh, and that air guitar "Eye of the Tiger" thing actually happened at my sisters wedding lol it was hilarious especially since the guy had a mop of curly shaggy brown hair (it wasn't the groom, he did the cowboy and at 6'5" that was entertainment in itself). It was perfect.**


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